Avengers : The King Of Terror
by ultron emperor
Summary: The war against the Mad Titan, Thanos, ended five years ago. Now, bow down and pray...to the golden demise !
1. Chapter 1

**Note : I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors you'll find in this story, I'm Italian and English is not my mother tongue. I'm looking for a beta reader or someone who is willing to correct my chapters, if anyone is interested.**

**Here I am with my first long story dedicated to the MCU.**

**In this fan fiction, which will be a minor crossover with the Godzilla universe, the Earth's mightiest heroes (and beyond) will find themselves forced to fight against the archenemy of the most famous radioactive reptile ever.**

**King Ghidorah (also known as The King of Terror) is the Galactus of monster movies, a creature that wanders from planet to planet to feed on the life force of its inhabitants, a villain that would make Thanos MCU look like a minor threat . For this reason, ALL the heroes of this cinematic universe will be forced to come together once again to stop him.**

**The King Ghidorah of this story will have the appearance of the counterpart that will appear in the upcoming Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, but his powers will be a mix of all the versions appeared in Godzilla and Mothra Movies. He'll be the only Godzilla character to appear.**

**I'll try to be as faithful as possible to the MCU time-line ( this story will take place 5 years after Endgame). Also, " You got something for me, Peter Park?", is a prequel to this work.**

**I wish you a good reading, and I hope you will find time to leave a review! On you tube you can find a little fan trailer for this story ( Avengers vs King Ghidorah ).**

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**Prologue**

The cloud rose directly from the bay of New York, coming so quickly, small and angry, that many people didn't even have time to hoist their umbrellas to the sky.

Pigeons began to find refuge in the crevices of skyscrapers, as if they were hit by a blaze, while the whole city was invaded by a dark desperation and by the arrival of the wind.

And then came the rain. A heavy and dark rain, as meteorologists predicted.

He began beating on the small houses of Hell's Kitchen, which increased in value every day. It tarnished the red-tiled roofs of Harlem, tarnishing the tree-lined boulevards of the neighborhood.

On the coast, molten silver waves rippled and mingled in the September storm.

The city's bridges seemed to levitate, and New York began to float like a fortress hidden in the fog.

The rain crushed the glass flower plants that edged the lawns of large corporations, making Central Park sparkle.

The world was prolific, the markets were expanding, while the pools were in danger of overflowing and the tawny hills already seemed greener.

Like money, the rain came in an avalanche, enveloping the bay, delighting the meteorologists who predicted it, overcoming all odds, saturating the air and causing a giant phantom hand to fall on the cemetery. Almost as if it wanted to announce the end of an era with arrogance.

Because that day marked the first anniversary of the death of Anthony Stark, aka Iron Man, founder of the Avengers, killer of Thanos ... savior of the Universe itself.

For many years, from the height of their Olympus, the Avengers tried to exorcise the deepest fears with which all humans were forced to confront on a daily basis, in a world that in less than a generation managed to make its inhabitants more fragile and insecure, forcing them to wear an armor.

Tony Stark was perhaps the most influential of them all.

A man without super powers, a rich bourgeois child of art kissed by the good fortune of having grown up in a stimulating and protected environment, like many scions heirs to millionaire fortunes.

What made Tony Stark a universal superhero like Iron Man? His choices.

Tony Stark, just like a modern Ulysses, always tried to push his intelligence beyond his limits, making the most of the enormous family heritage, because as a positivist he always had the ambition to save the world around him.

In an age in which technology succeeded in enchanting every human being, even in the new models of a social life undoubtedly poorer, the paladin known as Iron Man always traced the profile of a pioneer of new technological possibilities, convinced that the world could democratically offer everyone the same opportunities, precisely with the widespread dissemination of the discoveries of a new scientific revolution that saw him as a generous Prometheus of the twenty-first century.

Many flocked to the cemetery bordering Central Park, to pay tribute to the memory of man.

On the altar built for the occasion, in front of the immense crowd gathered for the praise, stood a total of fifteen distinct figures, flanked by a life-size photo of Tony Stark himself.

Everyone knew those bizarre-looking individuals.

By now there were superheroes scattered all over the world, but those fifteen? They were considered the best of the best.

Not because they were the most powerful, and in fact they weren't. Not all, at least. And not just because they were the first. But because they were special. They showed it over and over again.

They made difficult choices, they set an example, doing what was right, not what was easier. And in the end they always came to the top, saving every man, woman or child in the universe from the threat of a madman.

They had many names, but each of them was known by its own name.

Captain America, the first Avenger, now withdrawn from action to spend a quiet life. Spiderman, the man with the skills of a spider. Doctor Strange, the supreme sorcerer. Hulk, the strongest man on earth. Captain Marvel, the heroine from space. Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlett Witch. War Machine, the right arm of Iron Man. Falcon, the heir to Captain America. Bucky Burns, the White Wolf. Black Panther, the king of Wakanda. Clint Burton, known to most as Hawkeye. Spouses Scott and Hope Lang, known as Antman and Wasp. Not to mention their predecessors, Hank and Janet Pym.

All come to that cemetery to remember a friend ... a teammate ... a leader ... and a savior.

At the stroke of noon, the mayor of New York, James Ebert, a short, stocky man with a weathered face and mouse ears, came down on stage. He was elected three years after the snap caused by Thanos, when the United States begun to show the first signs of economic recovery.

He stopped in front of the microphone on the platform and coughed a couple of times.

" In a time when cynicism was a global epidemic, Tony Strak gave us something to be proud of, a dream that we must not allow ourselves to be extinguished" he began in a calm and solemn tone. " A nation is founded on the spirit of its people. The proof of the greatness of a nation is the cohesion of its citizens in times of crisis. The only limits to what we can achieve are the limits we give to our hopes "

With that said, he turned his head briefly toward the portrait on the stage.

" A year ago, this man wanted to remember the grandeur of our hopes. There was a moment, but I speak of centuries ago, when we were all one people. We all hoped, we all felt a little prouder and a little older. We all felt the same fears and the same enthusiasm" he continued, his eyes fixed on the crowd. " This man made us feel united, he made us understand that there are no goals that we cannot reach if we keep together. There are no adequate words to express our gratitude to Tony Stark. But ... we can honor his memory".

He took a few steps back and motioned for some of the spectators to come closer.

Many people held their breath, while a young woman with long red hair and a long black dress began to walk towards the stage, accompanied by a child who could not have been more than six years old.

She was Pepper Potts, wife of Tony Stark and mother of Morgan Stark, daughter of the IronAvenger.

The mayor stepped aside, while the widow took her place in front of the microphone and, with her eyes slightly wet from tears, began saying: " I am grateful to be here today, to remember my husband. We are all saddened by the loss of a great man ... and an equally wonderful father "

She squeezed his daughter's hand briefly as she gave her mother a sad smile.

A few sobs were heard from the crowd, but Pepper didn't seem to mind and started talking again.

" But we are here also because we've received a precious gift. We ... all of us, had the privilege of living a life in which Tony Stark was present" she said with a smile to the rest of the Avengers. " He who was known as Iron Man possessed many extraordinary gifts, and used them for our salvation. None of these qualities deserves to be remembered more than his incredible ability to recognize others in times of need, and his unwavering courage to help them, regardless of the price to pay"

The woman held back a jolt, blinking and gripping the microphone tightly.

She was visibly upset, but no one tried to get close to her. She was a proud person, and everyone knew it.

Then, after what seemed an endless time, Pepper took a couple of soothing breaths and turned her attention back to the gathered citizens.

" We must strive to accept his loss ... and move forward. It's a behavior that we all owe to Tony Stark, the man who taught us what it means to be heroes" she whispered as she reached out for the crowd**.**

" Today I see a magnificent city and a splendid people rise from this abyss. I see the lives for which he sacrificed his own, peaceful, useful ... prosperous and happy"

And, after uttering these words, with a heavy heart and a face wet with tears, she looked at the picture of her dead husband.

She turned one list smile to the ghost of the beloved one, imagining him next to her once again, with that confident expression mixed with arrogance, yet filled with repentance and love for others.

" Tony Stark leaves us with a profound lesson" she said with newfound determination, turning to the spectators. " Each of us must try to grow ... to become a sort of Iron Man. All, at least, we can try. Thanks to the courage to know how to face the most ambitious choices, and always pushing ourselves to the maximum. Without forgetting, however, to wear a solid armor to let ourselves be protected, but never losing the sunny enthusiasm of those who want to change the world starting from the hardest challenge: to improve ... ourselves".

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**Far far away from Earth...**

In the known universe, between wonders and infinite energies, there is a small circle of the most powerful beings of creation. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about.

However, there is something in these champions that you don't know. A secret truth that each of them brings to the most obscure and hidden parts of their soul. The fear ... the certainty ... that they will lose. That one day, despite their strength and courage ... every person ... and everything ... will die.

And if you ask these gods, these avengers and destroyers, how do they believe that this wonderful universe of ours will come to its bloody and inevitable end? With a trembling voice and a heavy and sincere heart, they would all tell you the exact same thing ... it will end in the same way that every story ever told ended. With death. Death ... and nothing more.

That day, death came from space.

It was a nebulous celestial body, as ancient as the universe itself, born from the womb of an immense cloud of ice, rocks, dust and gas in the same period in which the outer planets of the solar system were formed, 4.6 billion years before. As its dispersed particles condensed into a solid mass over a mile in diameter, it begun to dart silently through the emptiness of space, describing a path that led it to a distant sun, halfway to the closer star, after a journey that lasted many thousands of years.

Inside there was a creature. This creature embodied a vision: absolute, definitive emptiness. Long ago, when it was still just a puppy just out of the life-egg, it conceived the universe as what-was-not-its-mother, and saw its place there: a hole, dark and deep.

And yet it existed, it was sure of it. It thought it was the only one who really existed, along with its mother.

But the more time passed, the more the hunger of the creature grew with it, and so did its intelligence.

It came to the conclusion that its mother didn't love him for what it was, for its sacred specificity, but only for its nature as a son, the fact that it belonged to her, for the space it occupied in the air as tangible proof of her power. What a joy! it felt after that moment of infantile realization. What a wonderful achievement!

For this reason it killed her, feeding on her meat. And then the beast discovered the murder and the pleasure derived from absorbing the life force of another living being.

And when it was large enough to leave the nest, billions of years ago, the creature began to wander through space, eager to try that feeling once again. And again ... and again.

Thanks to that nutritious food, the creature led its existence in a simple waking cycle to eat and sleep to travel. It created a food chain in its image and looked at it with pride from the scarlet pits it had for eyes. The universe was its slaughterhouse, and the various races that lived there were its flocks.

For this reason, unaware of the fate that hovered over their heads like a guillotine, many planets fell under the weight of its insatiable hunger.

And very soon, by an unfortunate coincidence, another celestial body would have attracted the merciless, cold and mischievous eyes of the beast.

Far away, in the forgotten spaces not marked in the geographical maps of the extreme limit of the West Spiral of a galaxy, there was a small and insignificant yellow sun.

To orbit around it, at the distance of one hundred and forty-nine million kilometers, there was a small, very negligible blue-green planet, whose life forms, descended from the apes, were so incredibly primitive that they still believe that planes were an excellent invention.

A few years earlier, a titanic battle between a group of these natives and a member of the race known to most as the Eternals, Thanos, ended with the sudden release of a dense yet powerful energy, whose waves and particles traveled the whole cosmos without ever stopping, for countless light-years.

At billions of kilometers from that planet, the creature felt a change in the rhythm of space, something that replaced the cold and intangible void. A sudden burst of energy, which forced it to stop its advance.

The beast didn't seen the impulse caused by the Infinity Stones, but it smelled it, and the nerve endings scattered over its body registered the new vibrations and signaled them to the brain.

Something new had happened. For the first time ever, something new.

For this reason, after a moment of hesitation, driven by hunger and the curiosity of that sudden source of nourishment, the creature began to point towards the planet Earth.

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The Providence, a Venator-class colonizing ship, had less than an hour to live in front of it.

In fact, within forty-five minutes, it would become a collective tomb for men on board: 2,150 people, including passengers and crew members.

An unexpected tragedy, a cruel mockery, which the crystalline serenity of space, calm and deserted, left nothing to suppose.

Even the astral jellyfish, which were sailing for a week in the ship's fuel and hydrogen wake, continued with languid indifference in the cold and apparently lifeless emptiness of space, as if their acute senses, appeased by that sweet atmosphere (figuratively speaking ), weren't able topredict the slightest sign of danger.

Inside the ship it was as hot as inside an oven.

In the control tower, the vessel operator, Brady Corbet, lit a cigarette with the butt of the previous one, placed his feet on a portable air conditioner and rose from the command post for the morning patrol.

Completed the tour of control in the hypersleeparea of the crew, the man started in the adjacent room. Along the walls, one next to the other, more than two thousand individual freezers were arranged: a challenge to time and understanding.

Behind the doors, the faces of men, women and children could be seen. Lulled by reassuring dreams, everyone slept peacefully.

The responsibility to guarantee their survival, their state of health and above all their future all fell on Brady's shoulders and the crew. A task that they took very seriously.

In the distance, an amber flash caught his eye. The man approached the light source and checked the capsule's diagnostic monitor. He quickly analyzed the data, inserted the necessary adjustment and immediately the intermittent amber light turned green and constant. He was satisfied.

Perhaps it was a simple power surge. Fairly common in space.

Now he had to check the embryo containment unit.

He opened the first of a series of drawers, each of which held a human embryo at a different stage of development, and looked up at the monitors. The lights were green, as Halo, the on-board computer, observed. Everything was fine.

The man allowed himself a smile.

Then, suddenly, a calm and informative voice, almost feminine, echoed along the entire length of the ship.

" Brady ... maybe we have a problem"

The man jerked upright.

The on-board computer program included many skills. Diagnostic skills, technical skills, encyclopedic knowledge and linguistic nuances.

" The systems recorded an anomalous peak of electromagnetic energy. The analysis is in progress"

" Where?"

" Very close: sector 100. The source was masked, the reason for the strange ... indeed, late identification. A unique concatenation of spatial and gravitational distortions prevented it from seizing it in time. I apologize, the initial analysis was insufficient to measure its intensity and closeness. A second evaluation suggests the possibility that the event will have significant consequences. High risk"

"Probability of the collision?" Brady asked, suddenly feeling his throat dry.

"Imminent. External proximity. Exact calculations being processed"

Without waiting for details, the man left the settler room and rushed to the bridge, communicating the commands as he ran.

" Halo, immediately send an SOS to the nearest ship and start the crew awakening!"

" Done. The new calculations indicate that the phenomenon is accompanied by an object whose mass exceeds two square kilometers. Maybe a meteor. Impact in five, four, three ..."

The wave of energy that preceded the celestial body remained invisible, but its effects were unequivocal. The shock wave that shook the ship was powerful enough to make Brady lose his balance, to overcome the shields protecting the hull and to unleash chaos inside the spaceship.

The man tried to get back on his feet. He could do nothing for the ship except hope that Halo would find a way to resist.

He felt a sense of helplessness, while, from one of the portholes of the vessel, he was able to identify the outline of something ... something frightening, which seemed to come straight out of the innermost nightmares of the human mind.

Then he heard a cry, mixed with the rice of a hyena, and Brady was forced to plug his ear.

The cry echoed through the ship like the roar of an angry beast**, **a sort of dismal invocation to death.

The first item was joined by a second ... then a third, until the darkness was torn by a macabre chorus of moans.

After that obsessive series of groans, a disturbing silence reigned for a few moments.

Then, a gash was opened in the hull of the ship ...

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**All reviews are welcomed !**


	2. Chapter 2

I** remind you that I am not English but Italian, so I apologize for all the grammatical errors you will find in this chapter.**

**I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, come forward! I just need someone to correct my grammatical errors.**

**I also want to thank everyone who left a review in the previous chapter, thank you very much, really! **

**Oh, and Godzilla : King of the Monsters was EPIC! My new favourite Godzilla movie. King Ghidorah was perfect, this movie gave me a lot of new ideas...**

**Go to see it !**

**Now...any good story that respects itself needs a good antagonist, of course, but also well-defined protagonists. Which is why, this chapter and the next will focus mainly on the Avengers, even though Ghidorah's shadow will hover over the plot like an ineluctable omen.**

**For the revelation of kaiju I was inspired movies like Jaws. The various protagonists, in fact, will run into the numerous disasters caused by the creature, they'll perceive its imminent threat, but Ghidorah itself will appear later.**

**I wish you a good reading!**

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**Chapter 1**

**4 years later ( 5 years after Endgame )**

Carol Danvers slept. And she dreamed.

The boundary line with respect to her usual thoughts was profound, but certain distinctions didn't interest her. She only cared that the contents of her sleep were satisfying.

Something touched her lips. A light, warm touch, a gentle but sufficient pressure to release her.

Recognizing its origin, the slightly sulky curve of her lips stretched into a smile, then she opened her eyes.

There was a familiar face hanging over her. Carol now knew every detail, every trait or scar. Not that these were many, and in any case they were barely visible above the skin. In time, more would come, and she knew it. It was the common destiny of the warriors, of those like him.

The young face of Peter Parker, twenty-two and known to the general public as Spiderman, smiled back at her.

" Good Morning" he whispered " I created a web grenade".

It was a new information, but certainly not the one she expected.

With a noise halfway between a moan and a laugh, the heroine known to most as Captain Marvel hid under the pillow.

He chuckled and tossed it aside. Carol blinked and the woman's large brown eyes gave him a tender look. They dominated a youthful yet serious face, with the forehead crossed by a fringe of blond hair, slightly shot upwards.

She had the air of a woman often absorbed in her thoughts, but who never missed anything in the surrounding world, tempered by conflict.

" Come on, lazy. Look!"

Rubbing the faded side of a small cube, Peter projected a hologram that took shape under their eyes and hung in midair.

It depicted the generic mapping of a DNA strand.

Holding the cube on the palm, the vigilante used the free hand to manipulate the image, making it rotate and activating the zoom to move to a better perspective.

With a finger he overwrote a note, enlarged it to make it more readable and then eliminated it with a gesture.

Once he found the perspective he was looking for, he moved a column of notes to the side to show the image without hindrance. His enthusiasm was palpable.

" Here, do you see it? I created a substance capable of destabilizing the molecules of the web once in contact with the air. In practice, a small web capable of expanding and growing at least twelve times its original mass to trap the opponent".

With a resigned and amused expression, Carol shook her head a couple of times, then grabbed a pillow and looked at the boy.

"Did you wake me up for this? Please tell me no"

" I also made coffee" he replied, in a contrite tone " And it's snowing"

She sighed, sank her face into the pillow for a moment, then forced herself to stand up. It would've been enough to ask and he would've taken it to her, but his coffee always had a strange taste, she might as well prepare it herself.

It was really snowing outside.

Big flakes were deposited on the cornices and on the roofs of the buildings, softening the desolation of the urban landscape. The metropolis was tired, discouraged, visibly weary. Some rare passers faced with difficulty the snowy streets, each on his own, without looking up or speaking to others. All radiated a darkness that was identical to that of the buildings above them. Snow, life and the future were not a source of joy for anyone in the streets of New York.

After making coffee, Carol took the cup and went back to bed. Peter stoleher seat and now he was lying down tinkering with the hologram.

" It will become the spearhead of my arsenal" he said with a satisfied tone, before he frowned. " Looking back, maybe I should reduce the tension, otherwise it could take days to dissolve. It's hard to say. The strength of the webis important, but I mustn't neglect the aesthetic effect"

Carol took a sip of coffee and stared at him in silence.

She could have commented, expressed an opinion, if only to make him understand that she was listening to him and that he had her attention, but she didn't want to interrupt him. Turning around, she looked back over the window at the winter landscape.

She still remembered the day she met Peter for the first time. A strong and brave little boy of just seventeen, forced to grow up too fast and fight in a war for the fate of the universe.

She saw him face hordes of enemies alone, with the sole purpose of protecting a faint hope. Already at that time, she remained impressed by his abilities and his dedication to a single and simple cause: to use his powers to protect the weak and the oppressed. A noble cause that not many adolescents would've decided to undertake, if given the occasion.

In the following years, Carol's entry into the Avengers allowed the two to work together several times. And the more time passed, the more what she felt for Peter grew, as well as Peter himself. From a simple boy with a big heart, he became a young man tempered by battle and experience, a true pillar of the superhero community.

And just a couple of months ago, on his last birthday ... Carol decided to accept the affection she wa developing for him. Which the boy was happy to return, admitting that he started feeling the same things since their first meeting, during the last big battle against Thanos.

" You should think less about these things and more about your university grades" she said after a few minutes of silence, attracting the boy's attention. " I learned that in the last exam you were barely able to pass with a D"

After hearing these words, the vigilante flinched instinctively.

" Who told you that?" he asked in a slightly humiliated voice.

Carol smiled amused, leaning against the wall of the room.

" Pepper" she revealed with a mischievous tone, while Peter collapsed with a thud.

Drinking the last sips of coffee, the woman approached the climbing-walls and started playing with his uncombed hair.

" So, do you want to tell me what bother you in that big brain of yours?" she asked in a calm and reassuring voice.

Peter looked up, meeting the blonde's gaze.

"I just had a lot of things to think about**.** Patrolling the city takes time, and my duties as an avaneger ...

"You know you shouldn't put them in front of your study, Peter" she scolded him. " You are in the last year of college, and you finally have the opportunity to earn a good graduation"

She almost expected an excuse. Instead, to her great surprise, the boy remained still and silent, apparently lost in his thoughts.

At that point, a revelation began to make its way into Carol's mind. She almost forgot what day was today.

"It's because of the anniversary, isn't it?" she whispered with an understanding tone, caressing her companion's face.

Peter gave her a sad smile, confirming her suspicions.

" I miss him"

"I know, baby" she said, laying a chaste kiss on his forehead. " But I also know that he wouldn't want you to lose the chance to get a good life"

" My life is good. After all ... I have you" the vigilante replied, making her chuckle.

" You know what I mean" she snorted, hitting him jokingly on the shoulder.

The smile on Peter's face became much brighter, and Carol regarded it as a victory. She got up from the bed and grabbed a remote control placed on the only TV in the apartment.

" Do you have something to eat?" she asked without looking at Peter as he entered the kitchen.

The boy opened the fridge ... and stopped.

In fact, there was a frog inside the freezer. It seemed dead.

How the hell was it there? Perhaps it rose from the sink ...

Ugh, it was for reasons like this that he didn't want to take Carol to his apartment.

" Do you have any French descendants? " the vigilante asked, while the blonde threw him a strange look.

" Um…no"

"Then there is nothing edible here," he said with a shrug.

Meanwhile, the woman began to tinker with the TV channels, stopping only when she found one that broadcast the morning news.

The image depicted a man of at least thirty-five, with short black hair, a well-groomed beard and dressed in an elegant gray suit. He wore a pair of glasses with red lenses and carried in his right hand a white cane, like those used by blind people. Next to him was a slightly more plump man with long red hair pulled back.

Close to them, there was the figure of the New York Commissioner, George Stacy, a tall, squat man with short silver hair and electric blue eyes, apparently in his fifties.

" Mr. Nelson, Mr. Murdoch, is it true that you are both investigating on the Kingpin case?" an external female voice asked, probably the person who was in charge of the service.

The expression of the blind man, under which appeared the writing "Matt Murdoch - District Lawyer", remained calm and detached.

" "The Kingpin" is called Wilson Fisk. He's just a man, like everyone else. But he belives himself above the law" he declared in an impassive tone.

" This doesn't mean that he is" Stacy declared, receiving a angry look from the red-haired man.

" Seriously? Then go and arrest him" he commented, while Murdoch nodded in agreement.

" Everyone knows what the fortune of the Fisk family is based on. Game, racket, drugs. The only thought that the city continues to do business with him…well, it disgusts me"

" You're launching fairly heavy charges against Wilson Fisk" the Commissioner replied coldly. " That man was exonerated from every accusation, and now he's only an importer of Italian shoes**. **I even bought a pair of them! And they are extraordinarily comfortable"

With that said, he gave the camera an easygoing smile.

" And then, the proceeds of Fisk imports can be very convenient for this city"

" Dirty money " Murdoch broke in, raising his voice slightly**. " **And he wants to clean it up here. We will not allow this to happen ... not any more"

At that point, the image of the transmission suddenly changed, showing a tall man with a massive build, bald and dressed in an elegant white jacket. He was none other than Wilson Fisk, known by New York organized crime as Kingpin.

" Is he the type that gives you problems?" Carol asked, pointing to the TV.

Behind her, Peter crossed his arms and leaned against the living room wall.

" Since he was released from prison, the level of crime in New York has risen a lot" he commented dryly, staring at the crime boss with barely concealed disgust.

Carol turned her head towards him.

" You know ... I could go to his office right now. Let him take a ride on the nearest dwarf star and solve the problem" she said with a mischievous grin, making her companion chuckle.

" I appreciate the offer, but I can manage it by myself " he said with a shrug. "Plus, the last thing I want is that a big bald man **accuses** my girlfriend of kidnapping and attempted murder"

For a few minutes she looked at him without speaking. As the silence continued, the flicker he felt in his stomach turned into a beating of wings, and he couldn't help but think he did something wrong.

Instead of answering, Carol took a step toward him, and then it all happened too fast to figure it out. A moment ago she was a meter away from him, and the next she put her hand on his side and was embracing him. Then she bowed her head and kissed him.

Her lips were soft. Perhaps it was because she caught him by surprise, but he returned the kiss and realized that it was exactly what she wanted him to do.

After about a couple of minutes, Carol was the first to break away and looked the boy straight in his eye**.**

" Peter, you know I like spending time with you. You are cute, funny, intelligent ... and you are good in bed" she added with a slight touch of irony, making him chuckle.

Then, the expression on the young woman's face suddenly became serious.

"But I don't think a long-term relationship could work between us," she said with a de facto tone, surprising her companion.

He began to scrutinize her with a frown.

" You know well what I feel for you"

" Peter ..."

" And I know that you feel the same thing for me" he continued, arousing a sigh from Carol.

" It's not that simple"

" Why not?" the vigilante said, implacable, squeezing both his eyelids.

The face of the blonde was crossed by a myriad of emotions. It was obvious that she was trying to find the right words to answer such a question without hurting him.

" We are superheroes" she said after a moment of silence, pushing the climbing-walls to raise an eyebrow.

" So what? This is just one of the many things we have in common"

" We can't worry about each other while we fight criminals" she continued warmly, with a warning glance.

Peter just shrugged.

" Too late for this. Something else?" he said in an impertinent tone, while the young woman let out a groan and carried a hand to her source**.**

" Ugh ... this is so difficult. I mean, look at us. Seriously ... look at us!" she said pointing to their respective figures.

Peter seemed slightly wounded by that invitation, and Carol's heart skipped a beat. Those puppy eyes always managed to make her back off.

" Is it because of our age difference?" the boy asked, lowering his head slightly.

The superheroine rushed to reassure him, raising his chin and forcing him to stare at her face.

" You know very well that I grow much slower than any human being. Biologically speaking we have only 6 years of difference" she whispered seriously, before curling her lips in a mischievous smile " And I'm certainly not the first woman to go out with someone younger. Having said that, you also know that my time on Earth is limited. I have a whole galaxy to patrol ... duties I can't ignore, far from here. We can hardly see each other three months every year!"

" You could stay here" the vigilante snapped, without realizing how much that idea sounded hypocritical even to his own ears.

Carol put her hand on his cheek again, peering at him with warm and loving eyes.

"I wish I could do that" she murmured in a low voice.

Then, she bent down once more towards him, kissing him tenderly, first on his cheek and then on his lips.

Peter joyfully responded to the show of affection and, even if only for a moment, he forgot the anguish he felt just a few seconds before.

When he looked into her eyes, she saw again the cheerful and carefree boy she loved during these last months and the young man she still loved.

" Do we take the rest of the day off?" he whispered, over her lips.

Carol rolled her eyes, apparently amused.

" I can't, I have an appointment with Fury in half an hour" she said in a tired voice, causing a unhappy moan from her companion.

" Ugh, you can't leave me this way. Do you have any idea what it means to spend the rest of the day with an erection? " he murmured with a pout that Carol could not help but consider "adorable".

" Do you want some relief?" she asked, placing a finger on his lower lip. " Bring me a beautiful A of advanced Chemistry "

After hearing these words, Peter stared at her with an incredulous look mixed with amusement.

" Are you offering me sex in exchange for a good grade?"

" I only try to bring you back to the right track" she retorted, with a shrug.

After that, she jumped away from him, pressing a bracelet on her wrist. Within a few seconds, the robe she was wearing fell to the ground, being promptly replaced by the red and blue uniform of Captain Marvel.

By now aware that the superheroine was not joking at all, Peter gave her an indignant expression.

" It's impossible for me to go from a D to an A in less than a week!" he exclaimed with a hint of panic, while Carol sent him an impertinent smile.

"Then I won't be able to alleviate your pains," she said, before opening the apartment window. Meanwhile, the figure of the blonde began to glow with a blinding golden light.

" Incredible what a small incentive can do" she added with a mischievous wink.

And, after saying that, she threw herself over the window, taking off and leaving behind a visibly disappointedPeter Park.

The teenager released a loud sigh and prepared to change. After all, New York certainly wouldn't have been saved by itself ... and, in addition, now he also had to deal with the question of the study.

He had just time to take a step.

As from nowhere, he felt an invisible and unknown force land on his back with the same intensity of a running train. His heart started to beata mile a minute, while the hairs on his body stood up and a feeling of sickness and discomfort made its way into him.

Peter dilated his pupils and began to breathe with difficulty. He felt like ... a bird in the clutches of a cat, was the first analogy that came to his mind.

It was his spider sense ... and he was going crazy. He has never been so scared in all his life. The last time he felt something similar was during the last battle with Tha ...

Just before he could finish that thought, everything stopped abruptly.

The vigilante jerked upright and began to look around frantically. Nothing seemed out of place.

He jumped to the window and spent at least a good minute scanning the sky. Anything. No spaceship, no invasion ... nothing.

He let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall of the apartment.

What the hell was that?

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

There was a time before men, even before the world existed, when the cosmos was only the black void of the abyss of Ginnunga.

The frozen expanses of Niflheim stretched from the far north, and the lands of the luminous and glittering furnaces of the giant Muspell, called Muspellsheim, to the extreme South.

In the great abyss of Ginnunga, the cold northern winds met the warm breezes that blew from the south, and the swirl of snow and bushes melted and dripped into nothingness to form Ymir, father of all the ice giants.

The giants called him Aurgelmir, the one who boils the mud. From this trickle of frost the first cow, Audhumla, was also formed, who fed Ymir with his milk and licked a block of salt with his tongue, giving light to the first of the gods, Buri. In later times, Bor, the son of Buri, had three sons by the giantess Bestla, Odin, Vili and Ve, and they were those who killed the great Ymir and brought his body into the cold center of the abyss of Ginnunga.

With his blood they created the lakes, the rivers and the seas and with his bones they carved the mountains. With massive teeth they formed stones and gravel. With the brain the clouds and with the skull they built the sky and spread it high above the earth. Thus it was that the sons of Buri built the world that would become the home of the sons of men.

Or at least that was what Thor's mother, Frigga, used to tell her son and his brother Loki during the evening, before they went to bed.

With his face closed in a small smile, Thor remembered those stories with affection.

According to Asgardian mythology, at the center of the universe stood the Yggdrasil**,** the largest and best of all trees, and under the roots of Yggdrasil dwell the three virgins, the norne, who never stopped working, committed to they loom, spinning and forging the lives of every man and every woman, weaving what had to come out of the chaos and the infinite possibilities.

The gods of Asgard themselves were only threads of the artifact of the Norns, and even them, like mortal men and giants, could not sneak a peek at the threads of their lives or know the judgment of those nimble and tireless fingers.

Only the three virgins know the length of each thread, there, under the roots of The World Tree.

This rule also applied to Thor, who sought glory and a valiant death, together with those who wished to enter the palace of Odin and fight with the other gods in the decisive battle, at the advent of Ragnarök ... day when he lost everything. His home ... his people ... his brother. Everything faded away in the darkness of space.

Currently, the god of thunder sat with his eyes closed and his legs crossed on the floor of Milan, a class M shuttle whose speed and dexterity were second to no other ship, meditating on his own existence.

A few meters away stood The Hammer of Thor, known as Mjollnir.

The dwarves Brokk and Eitri made it for him thousands of years ago, directly from the heart of a dying star.

He was one of the treasures of the gods. When Thor threw his hammer at a target, the weapon flew precisely in the direction indicated to him and always returned to his owner's strong hands. There was even a time when he could shrink it and hide it in his tunic, and then enlarge it again. It was a perfect hammer in all but one thing: the handle was slightly short, so Thor had to swing it with one hand.

The rest of the room was occupied by a total of five unusual-looking individuals, at least by Asgardian standards.

The most "normal" was a young man apparently in his thirties, with short blond hair and a stubbly beard, dressed in a blood-red leather jacket and second-hand amphibious pants.

He was sitting at the only table of the room, along with a bald-headed humanoid alien, whose leathery gray skin was engraved with numerous signs of an apparently tribal nature.

A few meters away, playing with an old terrestrial gameboy from the 90s, there was an alien with long brown hair, eyes devoid of white and dressed in a tight green dress. The distinctive feature was certainly the pair of antennae that adorned her head, characterized by luminous points.

To top it all, there were a raccoon with a physical structure vaguely similar to that of a child and a humanoid tree about a couple of meters high.

These were, respectively, Peter Quill, Drax the destroyer, Mantis, Rocket Rakoon and Groot, a team of misfit heroes known by many titles throughout the universe, although the most common of their names certainly remained what they choose about a decade ago: "The Guardians of the Galaxy".

" So, in summary…" Rocket said, while he was intent on tinkering with a proton rifle. " Odin now lives in Valhalla. And is the only god who lives in a big palace? "

" No. There are many palaces" Thor replied, keeping his eyes closed and a relaxed position. " Once I am dead, I will live in Thrudheim"

The raccoon nodded contemplative.

" Right, right ... and the Alfheim palace was donated to Freyr, when he lost his first tooth ..."

" Exactly" the former Avenger confirmed. " And near there's the Valhalla, vast and sparkling with gold, and every day Odin chooses the killed men who will reach him. They arm themselves and fight in the great court, and they kill each other. But, night after night, they get up again and go back to the palace to celebrate. The roof is made of shields and the beams are spears, the benches are covered with armor. A wolf supervises the western entrance and an eagle breaks free from it. There are 540 doors, and when the universe will come to its end, 800 warriors will march out of every doorway standing side by side to fight the Great Enemy once more!"

"... and then people say that we are the strange ones" the genetic experiment commented, throwing a lateral look towards Groot.

In response, the tree merely shrugged, muttering a: "I am Groot"

Meanwhile, a few meters from the trio, Peter was engaged in a heated one-way discussion with a certain warrior.

" I'll tell you, Drax, Nebula is trying to sabotage me! Whenever I try to make things right with Gamora, she always ends up interrupting me" he muttered bitterly.

In front of him, the alien was intent on extracting from a box those that seemed gummy sweets of various colors. He was arranging them all in a row, carefully scrutinizing them methodically, as if he was looking for something.

"Are you still angry with her for kicking your ass a few months ago?" Drax asked, without even looking up at Quill.

" She just had a stroke of luck!" he rebutted warmly, before stopping abruptly. " Okay, five or six strokes of luck. However, this is not the point ..."

" I knew it, the box was lying!" the alien suddenly exclaimed, causing the ship's captain to jump. " There were thirty-two flavors, not thirty-four!"

Peter gave his teammate a visibly irritated look, only to collapse on the back of the chair.

" There's something wrong here, Drax, I can feel it"

"Usually I'm the paranoid one, and I don't see anything either," Rocket commented, his eyes twisting.

Mantis, who meanwhile begun to take note of the conversation, decided to quit the game and intervene.

" Why don't you just go talk to Gamora?" she asked in a puzzled tone, receiving an incredulous look from Peter.

" What, me? Talk with her? Forget it!"

"If you're afraid of talking to her, I can do it for you," Thor said, from his position on the floor.

The reaction was almost instantaneous.

" No!" the ex-ravager exclaimed, visibly alarmed.

After all, the last thing he needed was that the most fascinating man he ever met (as much as he hated to admit it) to be alone with his love interest. Some things never ended well, and he knew it from personal experience.

" You're really sad" Rocket muttered, shaking his head and starting to fumble with the blaster once again.

Meanwhile, Groot raised his right hand, attracting Quill's attention.

" I am Groot " the creature offered, with a shrug.

The human stared at him with a puzzled expression, while Rocket nodded in agreement.

" Groot is right, you may not have another chance. Nebula is currently in the cockpit, you should take advantage of it" he said with a mischievous smile.

Peter seemed to take the words of the talking raccoon into consideration, briefly weighing his eyes on each team member.

" You know what? It's exactly what I intend to do" he confidently declared.

Then, he left the room with a marked and safe step.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Gamora's cabin, like that of her colleagues, was designed to occupy the maximum space allowed by the shuttle's structural and economic limits. Within those parameters, it was equipped with every comfort. The bed was leaning against a wall, under a hexagonal porthole that showed a multiple view of the cosmos outside, and the light was adjustable: more intense to read, suffused or colored in the case of other activities.

Without wasting time knocking, Peter entered the room with arrogance.

" Hey, Gamora! I wanted ... Judas Priest!" he exclaimed stunned, surprised by the vision that took shape in front of him.

Gamora was exactly as he remembered her. Slim and feminine body, drooping black hair, green skin and shiny eyes, full of determination and fighting spirit. What surprised the human, however ... was what she was wearing in that moment.

" There's something wrong?" the former daughter of Thanos asked, currently dressed in an elegant black dress with shoulder pads, which reached her ankles.

Quill promptly shook his head.

"No, no, it's just that, uh ... I ... I've never seen you in a dress before " he stammered with a slightly red face.

The Zen Whoberi just shrugged.

"I'm just trying something new, it was Mantis idea. Don't you like it?"

" It's, uh ... cute" was the only thing that the man managed to say, after a moment of hesitation.

Gamora stared at him strangely, causing Peter to remember why he was there in the first place.

However, just before he could even open his mouth ...

" Guys, the ship detected a rescue transmission launched about half an hour ago" the cold and detached voice of Nebula proclaimed, through the ship's loudspeakers.

Time almost stopped. An inexorable silence seemed to fall inside the room, while a certain captain started staring at the device in disbelief.

Gamora turned her head to Quill.

" Go out, I must change" she ordered in a tone that didn't allow replies.

Peter opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, as if he was searching for the right words to argue. However, when the alien's gaze deepened, the ex-ravager proceeded to leave the cabin without protest.

Once he was outside, he glared at one of the speakers.

" I knew it!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The enormous shape of the spaceship loomed dark, hostile and disturbing due to its resemblance to a very distinct part of the female anatomy. The beams of the Milano rummaged through the gigantic hole along the side of the vehicle, looking for something solid to be reflected on.

Scanning the walls of the ship, Thor could not tell if they were made of metal, plastic, glass or organic fabrics. Those that looked like curved supports could very well have been the ribs of a gigantic beast. Unfortunately, the darkness of the space was too dense, and the little that could be distinguished appeared uniformly dark ... and without life.

" It doesn't look good " Drax said, staring intently at the wreck.

" Maybe it was approached by pirates" Gamora offered, weighing the look on the enormous open wound along the chassis of the vehicle.

Rocket squeezed both his eyelids.

" Whoever did it ... had really big weapons. And very powerful" he whispered warily.

Thor briefly turned his head towards Mantis.

" Are there signs of life on board?"

" Some, but they are few. Judging by the size of the ship, I would say that most of the crew died" the woman said, slightly disconsolate.

Peter released a resigned sigh.

"We are going to fight, aren't we?"

"It's highly probable," Nebula said coldly, a few steps away from him. The blue-skinned alien had already armed her blaster and seemed ready to go to war.

Unknowingly, Thor found himself smiling. He has worked with her for years, yet her enthusiasm for the fight never ceased to give him a strong sense of nostalgia. In some ways, she reminded him of his old friend Syf.

Aaaah, how many battles they fought together ...

He shook his head from those thoughts. Now was not the time to dig up the past.

After taking a deep breath, he proceeded to walk to the ship's locker room.

Once the protective suits were worn,the group went into the wreck.

With their large helmets, the load of equipment and pressurized coveralls that stood out orange in the darkness of deep space, they looked like giant monocle beetles.

Without hesitating, as was his task, Quill immediately put himself at the head of the line.

His flashlight didn't detecte anything mobile so far. The only perceptible sounds were the constant dripping of something, and from time to time a hiss, probably caused by the ship's internal mechanisms that tried to prevent air from leaking out of the artificial atmosphere.

Sometimes they came from the outside, sometimes from the inside. Like a bellows, the man reflected. Or a lung.

Inside the wreck of the spaceship there was no light… but a lot of what seemed water.

On the irregular surfaces flowed a quantity of small, almost mute rivulets. In some places they collected in shallow pools.

The team tried to avoid as much as possible, not wanting to see if they were hydrogen clots or flammable fuel.

Taking another corridor, they found themselves in front of a series of objects that at first sight looked like statues**. **As they approached, Gamora realized that they were suits.

It was not possible to guess their function, they could have been spacesuits, for survival, for everyday life or for some kind of activity that escaped her comprehension, but the most interesting datum was their size.

The forms appeared humanoid, bi-symmetrical, even if designed for much larger bodies.

Nebula joined her and remained silent, scanning the casings, taking notes and surveys with the external equipment. She didn't comment and the other didn't ask. After all, when her sister had something useful to say ... well, she expressed it without encouragement.

Gazing across the gloomy, damp environment, Peter felt a growing discomfort. He reached into his pocket, gripped the blaster firmly, and began to turn it between his fingers.

The next room was slightly larger than the others. Unlike the previous ones, it was surmounted by a very high vaulted ceiling, and the curved walls that supported it showed no trace of joints or bolts, welds or other internal supports. A slightly sloping ramp led to a gigantic high platform at the exact center of the floor.

On the platform, a curved console embraced an unknown instrument. It was difficult to determine whether it was a weapon, or a rudder.

The ramp sent a slight clang under their steps.

At the top, they found an empty seat.

" Well… at least we know that the captain is not here" Peter commented, trying to play down the whole situation.

Meanwhile, Thor began to scan the surrounding area.

" It's too strange" he murmuredto himself, after a careful analysis of the room.

The declaration didn't go unnoticed by Nebula, who turned to him.

" What?"

" Have you noticed corpses since we entered?" the god of thunder continued, attracting the attention of the various guardians.

" No, not even one" Nebula agreeded, whose position became much more tense than it was until a few seconds before.

Rocket began to sniff the surrounding area.

"So ... where did everyone go?" he said with suspicion. No one was able to answer him.

While the raccoon illuminated the various artifacts with the torch, Peter stepped off the ramp and approached the central console to investigate the instrumentation.

The panel didn't show buttons, levers, monitors or other recognizable commands. The only elements that had the appearance were a quantity of balls of various sizes embedded in it. The former Ravager was careful not to touch them, but his caution revealed to besuperfluous: the technology behind the console was too advanced to rely on a rudimentary system like physical contact.

His hand passed over a frosted inlay and ...

At the exact spot where Drax was, a hologram came to life. Taken aback, the alien jerked aside, pulling out a knife and allowing the image to fully reveal itself.

Although blurred and indistinct, it was evident that it represented one of the ship's passengers.

The alien in question was almost three meters tall, with a bald head and a pale complexion.

The tone of his voice was distinctly masculine, and accompanied the same message repeated over and over again: "Please help us, we have been attacked, we cannot defeat him!"

" Mala'kak" Rocket said suddenly, attracting Peter's gaze.

" What?" he asked, while the raccoon indicated the hologram.

" It's the name of this species. Very reserved types, me and Groot met some of them during one of our previous missions in the outer rim. But this is strange, usually they never venture so far from home" he murmured contritely, while carefully analyzing the creature's message.

Mantis could not help but grasp the profound desolation that shone through his voice.

" Can you feel it?" she murmured, while the message echoed in the vast soundbox of the room. " So full of anguish ..."

" I'm the fucking anguish one"

Seriously disturbed by the aura of that place, Rocket had no qualms about cutting against the alien rhetoric. "I'm sorry about this poor bastard, but what the hell happened here?"

He raised the blaster and continued saying: "I don't like this situation at all, guys"

"I am Groot," Groot agreed, solemnly.

Thor, on the other hand, didn't answer.

He stared at the hologram that moved inside the hall, as hypnotized.

In front of the group's eyes, the figure turned to look over his shoulder and remained petrified. Judging by the expression, he seemed nervous ... and scared.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Thor approached the alien hologram. He ignored him, staring at the petrified shape behind him.

Finally, the god of thunder tried to touch it, and at that point the image grew abruptly, wrapping the entire room in a dazzling light and revealing what was hidden from the eyes of the team.

There was ... a mouth. Bristly with sharp teeth, as big as the room itself. Each tooth looked the size of a column, white and immaculate even in the shadow of the ship.

And even if the image depicted by the hologram didn't have the maximum resolution ... Thor still managed to glimpse the face of the creature to which those immense jaws belonged.

" That's not possible" he whispered, taking a step backwards.

Rocket raised his head, ready to comment on the words of the Asgardian ... and froze.

" Thor, look out!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Dum, dum, duuuuuuuuuuuuum! Cliffhunger!.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**For the uninitiated, Matt Murdoch and Foggy Nelson are the protagonists of Daredevil, a MCU tv series.**

**Matt is indeed Daredevil himself, while Wilson Fisk is his archenemy, also known as Kingipn, which you can see in action even in the Spiderman movie released last year ( Spiderman : Into the Spiderverse).**

**Yes, in this story I will also include the characters from the MCU-related marvel tv series, like Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Agent's of Shield etc ...**  
**Furthermore, I point out that the ship found by the Guardians is not the same one attacked in the first chapter, that was a colonizing ship of humans, this belongs to a completely different alien race ( inspired by the Aline franchise ).**

**All reviews are welcomed !**


	3. Chapter 3

**I remind you that I am not English but Italian, so I apologize for all the grammatical errors you will find in this chapter.**

**I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, come forward! I just need someone to correct my grammatical errors.**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 2 : **

" Thor, look out!"

Rocket's scream echoed in the god's ears like a gunshot, forcing him to turn around. At that precise moment, a shadow fell over him.

An aberration, as the Asgardian had never seen before.

It had eight long legs, four pairs of eyes the size of a grain of rice, accompanied by a pair of huge jaws with sharp fangs. The body of the beast seemed covered by a sort of sand-colored exoskeleton, like that of crabs, and was about the size of a car.

An ordinary person would have remained petrified in front of such a vision ... but Thor was certainly no ordinary person.

Tempered by years of war and death, the god of thunder managed to dodge the assault with extreme ease, moving slightly to one side.

Realizing that he failed, the creature made a chilling sound and turned towards the potential prey. The Guardians wasted no time and began shooting towards the unknown monster. It, however, was quick to jump along the walls of the room, dodging every bullet.

Whatever that creature was ... it was agile. Very agile. But not enough to escape Thor's blows.

By drawing on his own energy reserves, the god of thunder reduced it to the point of death with a simple and precise lightning strike directly from his hands.

The animal gave a desperate cry, a mixture between a bark and the cry of a child. Then, after a long and agonizing series of spasms, its smoking body stopped moving.

Silence reigned in the room.

Thor sank to the floor of the ship, trying to metabolize what he just saw.

" What the hell is that thing ?!" Quill exclaimed, the gun still pointed in the direction of the dead animal.

Gamora stopped a few steps from the corpse, analyzing it methodically.

" I don't know, but whatever it is ... it is surely the reason why we didn't found corpses on this wreck" she whispered coldly, looking around for other possible threats.

Beside her, Rocket stared at the creature with a frown.

" It's just me or does it look like an overgrown flea?" he muttered almost to himself, attracting the attention of Mantis.

" A flea?" the alien asked, not being familiar with the term.

The genetic experiment nodded in response.

" Yes, a flea. Those little bastards always give me problems, I would recognize them everywhere" he muttered in an angry voice, touching the exoskeleton of the insect with the tip of his foot.

Meanwhile, Nebula approached Thor to ascertain his condition, but he reassured her with a quick wave of his hand.

" Um ... is everything okay? You look as if you've just seen a ghost" Rocket told him, after noticing the pale expression on the Asgardian's face.

He released a heartbroken sigh.

" It's nothing, sweet rabbit. I just remembered something ..."

" Do you mind making us all participants?" Quill intervened, with a hint of sarcasm.

Thor took a deep breath, bringing a hand to his face and rubbing his jaw.

It took him a couple of minutes to remember his father's stories, and to let nostalgia take over his ancient and weary memory, filled with regrets.

He couldn't help but think about how much he missed his family, Odin, Frigga ... and Loki. But that was not the time to complain, and so he took courage.

" The beast we saw in the hologram ... I think I know it "

" An old flame?" asked Drax, receiving a strange look from Mantis. " What? I don't judge"

" No" Thor whispered, attracting the attention of the group. The last time they saw him so shaken was during the war against Thanos. " A powerful creature ... as old as the universe itself "

And having said that, he motioned them to sit down.

" Please, my friends, let me tell you a story. A story ... that until today I considered just a simple legend"

After hearing those words, his teammates sat down, their faces adorned with disturbed and intrigued expressions at the same time.

" My father, Odin, often told it to me. At the dawn of time, even before the giant Ymir, there was a creature that sowed discord in the universe. A giant golden serpent crawling among the stars and feeding on nebulae as if they were his daily bread. It threatened Asgard, my kingdom, and so Odin, together with his father Bor and his brothers Vili and Vé, decided to face it. It is said that the energy released by that clash shook all the nine worlds" he revealed with awe, while the Guardians listened to him enraptured. " For centuries they fought, until Vili and Vé lost their lives trying to save my father. Odin, destroyed by pain, used his power to incorporate within himself the strength and soul of his deceased brothers, thus obtaining an unmatched force ... that which in ancient times was known as the Odin Force"

" Very original " Rocket commented, receiving a slap in the head from Groot. The genetic experiment glared at his companion, but decided to remain silent.

Meanwhile, Thor spoke again.

" With the new acquired power, Odin and Bor defeated the serpent, throwing his wounded body from the highest branch of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world. I've always believed that this was a fable invented by my father to alleviate my boyish longing for epic stories ... but apparently I was wrong. I remember that, as an infant, I used to sleep with one eye open, fearing that the primordial serpent could devour my flesh in my sleep"

" And are you absolutely sure that this "snake" was the creature we saw in the hologram?" Quill asked, in a doubtful voice.

Thor nodded in agreement.

" I would recognize those features everywhere, they were the same as the illustrations contained in the stories"

" And what is this creature called?" Nebula asked, squeezing both eyelids.

The god of thunder released a second sigh.

" It has many names, but among my people it's known as Jormungandr, the primordial snake. It is said that his coils were so large that they could wrap around the whole of Midgard" he said solemnly, before staring at the panel from which the projection started.

" When I caught a glimpse of him in the hologram ... It was as if I had gone back in time, along with Odin and Bor, on the battlefield. With a bloodthirsty throat and a beating heart, trembling for the glorious struggle that for eons would have been sung in the streets of Asgard. But along with those feelings of honor and virtue ... I also felt fear. Since no sane Aesir would ever want to face such an enemy, considered by Odin himself as much more powerful, dangerous and cruel than the Fire Demon Surtur"

" Yes, we understand. Big mythological snake, very ugly and bad, makes you shit in your divine knickers and blah blah blah" Rocket broke in, crossing both arms in front of his chest " But if he did all this… now where will he be direct ?"

Faced with such a logical and necessary question, Thor wrinkled his face in an expression of profound contemplation.

" Jormungandr only craves destruction. For him, the planets are nothing but tasty hunting animals, which he can hunt down and devour as easily as a lion eats a gazelle. If he decided to visit this quadrant of space ... at this time he could be directed everywhere".

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Since time immemorial, the Earth has been bombarded by mysterious astral bodies.

Fragments of the infinite universe cross our atmosphere in an invasion that has no end. They are the meteors, the shooting stars so dear to the hearts of the various poets.

Of the thousands that go towards the Earth, many are destroyed by a large flame as soon as they penetrate into the layers of air that surround it. Only a small percentage of them survive and of these most fall into the waters that cover two thirds of the planet.

However, since the dawn of time, some meteor has been able to hit the earth's crust, opening up immense craters of every shape and size.

The meteors could come at any time of any day, from planets belonging to constellations whose dying light was too far away to be seen by terrestrial eyes.

They came from the infinite, arcane sign of life in the unlimited vastness of space. Their nature was almost completely unknown, their secrets were unexplored. They lay inert in the night ... and they waited.

That day, one of those mysterious celestial bodies choose the Earth as its next target. More specifically, a relatively isolated state of North America.

Currently, the icy waters of Alaska were grabbing the fishing boats lined up along the pier, which stretched their moorings as if they wanted to run away with the tide.

The water, in the small port of Angoon - a fishing village on the western side of the island of Admiralty, off the southwestern coast of Alaska - though rippled by rain and it was black as steel, due to the cloudy sky. It seemed like crystal, a clear window that, under weathered piles, opened onto a world of starfish the size of a garbage can lid, jellyfish the size of baseballs and barnacles like fists of a unloader. This was Alaska: such an exuberant land of life to recharge a man, lift him up and even bring him back from the beyond.

Somewhere, high up, the moon shone beautiful and full ... but that day, in Angoon, a snowstorm was raging.

The wind whistled, beating the main street of the village at full speed. The municipal snow plows had long since given up on clearing the streets.

Arnie Hooper, an old fisherman from the island, was seized by the storm fifteen kilometers from the village, and was forced to stop the diesel-powered trolley and take refuge in the barrack of tools and signals of an old railway, where, waiting for the snowfall to end, he was the first to witness the descent of the meteorite.

It arrived low and bright, a celestial body of about a kilometer that, instead of increasing in speed once in contact with the force of gravity of the planet, seemed to slow down in mid-air. Almost as if it was not a meteorite ... but a means of transport equipped with brakes.

Arnie was the only one to testify about the descent in first person. However, the impact would have been detected by others ...

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

It was the fall of 2027.

All of Miami and all its inhabitants were shocked and upset by the assassination of the Attorney Charlie Dent, which occurred in extraordinary and inexplicable circumstances.

The public was already aware of those details of the crime that emerged from police investigations, since the facts relating to the death were made public just a few seconds after the incident. After all, the man felt from the town hall with his body completely in flames, before being smashed to the ground in front of hundreds of civilians and passers-by.

Not that everyone was groping in the shade, on the contrary. There were some people who were well aware of the causes attributable to the death of the alleged public official.

One of these was currently walking near an old abandoned house, at 221 Baker Street, New York.

In spite of what any passer-by might have initially thought, the aforementioned house was nothing but a simple but astute staging, conceived by a man who knew well the curiosity of his fellow men. And perfectly fit for purpose.

Ugly and massive, the structure reached six meters in height, supported by large wooden legs that started from a platform. On those legs a triangular section housing was built with open ends.

Close to one of the upper corners of the structure there was a rounded protuberance with two slits, like two eyes. The sides were covered with skins. The platform that supported the legs lay horizontally on the ground.

All the inhabitants who rested their eyes on that stronghold were amazed at how ugly and poorly it was, proving the sudden and unnatural instinct to get away from it as quickly as possible. In doing so, they remained unaware of the fact that it was a simple illusion created to mask what was the Sancta Sanctorum, home of the Supreme **Sorcerer** and Avenger Stephen Strange.

The man in question crossed the invisible barrier with a slow and marked step, finding himself in front of the real features of the building: a sumptuous Victorian villa with a magenta blue roof, the focal point of the magic lines that crossed the American continent, and one of the most guarded and safe place on the entire planet.

Once inside, Strange was given a rather unusual view. His collaborator, Wong, sat in the shadows of the living room, his hands folded in front of an impassive face with oriental features.

The Supreme Sorcerer raised an eyebrow.

" You're in my chair" he observed with a de facto tone.

Wong glanced quickly at the aforementioned piece of furniture.

" Yes ... I guess so" he admitted without shame, before staring at the Avenger. "Where the hell you been?"

"I had stuff to take care of," Strange replied with a shrug, causing the monk to spin his eyes.

" Overrated enigma, especially at this time of morning" he said in an unshakable tone.

The sorcerer started up the stairs leading to the upper floor and Wong was forced to follow him.

" Nothing apocalyptic" Stephen continued, " Only a demon who was impersonating the Miami Attorney to free as many criminals as possible"

And, after saying that, he took out an ampoule from under his robe. Inside the container stood a sort of reddish vapor, with luminous spots that delineated the shape of a grotesque face.

Wong scanned the object cautiously and released a resigned sigh.

" You could have warned me. I made you a soup, but it got cold" he muttered bitterly.

Strange walked to an armored door, giving the monk an amused smile.

" Sorry, I didn't want to make you worry"

" I was worried for the Sancta Sanctorum" the other retorted, visibly angry. " Without the Supreme Sorcerer ..."

" It can still survive a couple of days without me," the Avenger admonished, as he made a few quick movements with his free hand.

Like a signal, the various padlocks and door locking mechanisms snapped open, revealing the interior of the room.

The crypt was formed by a central rectangular room, with a barrel vault measuring about 5.60 to 9.90 meters.

Each wall of the room was covered with solid wood cupboards and safes, above which various objects with ancient features were arranged neatly. Objects that ranged from simple vases to oriental-made amulets, taken directly from the sands of time.

This was probably the most dangerous place in the entire city, since it contained all those demons, evil spirits and dark arts experiments that the various supreme sorcerers who followed one another over time had managed to trap.

" In this regard, I won't stay long. I felt an energy distortion in Peru about two hours ago" Strange continued, as he placed the ampoule inside a drawer.

After hearing these words, Wong found himself sighing once more. It was typical of Strange to disregard his health in favor of his sorcerer's duties.

"You should eat something first. Keep yourself in strength"

" When I come back" the man said, casually.

The sorrow on the monk's face became more and more evident.

" You're too stubborn when it comes to work, you know that?"

" And for this reason I am the best in what I do" the other replied, with a mischievous wink.

He was about to leave the room when ...

**Stung!**

Strange turned abruptly, attracted by the sudden noise. He definitely heard something slamming ... yet, in the room, nothing seemed out of place.

Wong joined him, scanning the interior of the crypt. Perhaps a mouse entered.

Then, slowly, the sound began to repeat itself, this time at regular intervals. Strange realized that it came from one of the drawers.

The sorcerer, after casting a wary look at his companion, made to approach ... but a second **Stung!** echoed to his left, making him jump. And then another, coming from a third drawer. And another one.

And within just half a minute, every single piece of furniture or jar in the room began to shake or slam, as if everything in that room had finally awakened from a primordial sleep and chosen that exact moment to make its presence known.

It was as if every demon or spirit captured over the centuries ... was upset about something.

After what seemed an interminable time, however, the whole event stopped abruptly.

An inexorable silence seemed to fall into the depths of that prison.

" Ok ... this is new" Strange murmured, his face adorned with an expression somewhere between disbelief and concern.

What the hell was just happened?

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Carol balanced on the top of the tower-shaped water tank, the highest point in the entire area, and looked at the papier-mache city that stretched beneath her. It was just a couple of buildings and small streets with facades, which, from that angle, seemed trivial. Nevertheless, compared to the rest of the state, it seemed normal. Normal and peaceful. It was not difficult to find people wandering around, because it was a place where, for a couple of blocks, you could walk on a sidewalk and pretend that the world still made sense.

Carol visited that place only twice. The first time when it was just a village built to house the families of the various scientists participating at the nuclear program. A friend of a friend brought her many of years before, and they spent an afternoon visiting the various research centers and making some flights. At the time it seemed like one of the most fantastic places in the world.

It was from that visit that the papier-mache city remained forever etched in her memory. The second time was at night, wearing the costume.

She was exactly in the same spot, at the top of the tank tower, as the wind flowed through her hair. A small journey back in memory, after his return to Earth about ten years earlier. It seemed like an eternity.

Located on the plains of Nevada, that small village was transformed into one of the major gathering places of the high command of the United States of America, as well as the base of a now reformed Shield.

Carol scanned the area warily, until her eyes rested on a distinct figure. A tall, black man, dressed in a sumptuous dark leather jacket and matching pants. The distinctive feature was certainly the bandage that ran over his right eye, the result of an accident in which she herself was involved.

The figure in question was none other than Nick Fury himself, director of the Shield and founder of the Avengers project.

Currently, the man was intent on reading a printed copy of the New York Times.

An earthquake in Peru claimed an unknown number of victims. The Peruvian government pointed out that the excellent architectural structures contained the damage, but the filming of the mobile phones showed rubble and bodies covered in dust.

An oil platform was on fire in the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps because of a sabotage, although no one took responsibility for it. From a diplomatic point of view, all the nations around behaved like a band of kids breaking a window playing baseball and running away without thinking twice.

In Los Angeles, the FBI was in a stalemate for 40 days with the private "Thanos Army", a group of fanatics who believed that Thanos was a sort of god and would one day come back to judge humanity. The happy gang refused to pay taxes, respect the principles of the constitution or hand over their supply of automatic weapons.

At the bottom of the first page, a photo of a young woman with a face dug in front of a shed on the Appalachians, with a baby in her arms: Cancer in the land of coal.

The news reminded Fury of the release of chemicals in a local stream, thirty-five years ago. As a result, the water supply was suspended for a week. Apparently the matter was resolved, but since then he has only ever drunk bottled water, to avoid the risk.

The sun warmed his face.

Nick looked briefly at two large elm trees at the end of the avenue. The trees made him think of brothers, sisters, husbands and wives. He was certain that their roots were entwined in an indissoluble structure underground.

Dark red mountains poked out in the distance, while the clouds seemed to melt from a sky sugar paper. The birds flew and sang. It was a mortal sin that people did not appreciate the splendor of that stretch of desert.

Instead Fury was not an ungrateful. He never imagined he could afford such a panorama. He wondered how much he would have to become decrepit and flaccid before he was able to grasp the sense of luck of some and the bad luck that others had.

Of course, dying and coming back to life heavily influenced this particular change of vision. And maybe he wasn't even the only one.

At that moment, a dazzling light forced him to look up at the sky.

Carol Danvers landed gently in front of him, her face adorned with that smile that was reserved only for a small circle of people.

" You put on weight" the young looking woman declared, after scrutinizing him carefully from head to foot.

Fury rolled his one eye.

" And you are a vision as always" he retorted with an impassive expression, while proceeded to hug the half Kree.

Carol returned the gesture affectionately, while being careful not to exert too much force. After all, she could have broken the spine of a normal human being without even realizing it.

" Why are you still here?" she asked, after breaking up.

Fury briefly pointed to a building a few meters from them. Unlike papier-mâché houses it was made entirely of concrete and white marble. Furthermore, the rectangular base structure was large enough to pass through an air base, as one would have expected from Shield's new headquarters.

"Inside you can't smoke," Fury revealed, as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

Carol stared at him strangely.

" Since when do you smoke?"

" Since I was turned into a pile of dust in the wind" he retorted, shrugging his shoulders and pulling a couple of butts out of the box. " I understood that life is too short. Do you want one?"

" No, thanks" the blonde replied, staring at the package with slight disgust.

She had never liked the smell of smoke, it reminded her too much ... her father.

She quickly shook her head from those thoughts and looked back at the base, noting the presence of a scattered group of armed men dressed in military-style uniforms.

" And them?" she asked with a touch of curiosity.

Fury lit his own cigarette and glanced briefly at the jumble of soldiers.

" They're here with the special security team, the vice president will attend the event"

" A special security team?" Carol said, visibly surprised. " For a formal Shield meeting? It seems excessive to me"

"I think it's more due to your presence," Fury replied, taking a quick puff of smoke.

The young woman stared at him in amazement.

" Today I'm nothing but a diplomat," she said in a de facto tone, crossing both hands in front of her chest.

After hearing these words, the manager could not help but bark a little laugh.

" Don't underestimate yourself, Carol. For them you are an international incident waiting to happen" he revealed with a shrug, making the half Kree wince.

The heroine known as Captain Marvel wrinkled her lips in a discontented grimace.

" Sometimes I wonder how you can work with these people"

"Because They're the last hope of humanity against your race, Miss Danvers," sudden voice said, behind the couple.

Carol clenched her fists, instantly recognizing that nasal and pleased tone. It belonged to one of the few people on this planet who were able to infuriate her with their mere presence.

Fury kept an impassive expression, giving the new arrival a respectful nod of his head.

" Senator Kelly, a pleasure as always" he said in an informal tone, confirming the suspicions of the one who assisted him.

Carol turned around. Behind her, the figure of a tall, thin man, apparently in his fifties, just took his place, with short brown hair pulled back. He was wearing a pair of glasses and a dark blue suit.

He was none other than Robert Kelly, Senator in the Washington Chamber and one of the greatest exponents of the laws promulgated against the human with powers.

"What are you talking about? Humanity doesn't need protection from us" Carol said coldly, narrowing her eyes.

Kelly barks a laugh, as if he had just heard a funny joke.

" Ah, Miss Carol, I wish I had your optimism. Believe that you're the guardian angels who came among us mere mortals to answer our prayers"

And, after saying this, the expression on the man's face suddenly became much more serious.

" But also Lucifer was an angel"

" An analogy that is completely out of place" the woman replied, with a loud snort.

The senator shrugged.

" I don't think so. After all, the Sokovia agreements were approved for this reason. But it seems that, after the incident with ... Thanos ..." he said with a hint of hesitation, " people preferred to forget"

"You shouldn't dwell on the past," Carol replied, her tone adorned with a hint of insistence.

Kelly just rolled his eyes.

" I'm talking about now. Statistically speaking, the Avengers represent the greatest threat to global security"

" I remember we were saying the same thing about the Soviets" Fury said suddenly, attracting the attention of the couple.

The senator stared at him strangely, as he dropped his cigarette to the ground and turned it off with his foot.

" It was at that time that I realized something: the enemy is never as bad as we think ... And maybe we are not so good" the Shield director continued, making Kelly chuckle.

" Words of a true politician" the man commented. After that, he proceeded to move away, not before having thrown a mocking nod towards Carol.

The blonde snapped her tongue, visibly annoyed.

" I don't like him"

" I wonder why," Fury muttered, with a discontented sigh.

Some things never changed.

Even years later, humanity could always repeat the same mistakes

With that thought in mind and a heavy heart, the man began to follow the senator into the base, quickly jointed by the figure of Carol.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**New York **

The girl was naked, and leaned her back against a wall covered with yellowish mucilage.

Suddenly, before she had a chance to fight against the panic growing inside her, the slime began to rise along the thighs of her helpless body.

In a mad terror, she began to scream as the horror continued to creep across the sweaty bare skin. Her eyes almost shot out of their sockets.

Driven by the force of despair, she began to struggle. It was useless ... the wrists and ankles were firmly chained to the surface of a wall.

Gradually, the repulsive mucilage rose to the level of the breasts. And then, as the indescribable horror touched her lips, a vibrant roar and a ghostly voice echoed in the dark room.

" Wanda? Wanda!"

Drug-induced sleep vanished and she began a painful struggle to regain consciousness. A dim and misty light greeted the eyes that opened slowly, and an atrocious stench of decay penetrated her nostrils.

It was all unreal, impossible, she realized when she awoke. It must have been a nightmare.

Once the surrounding area was focused, Wanda Maximoff noticed the presence of the one who awakened her. It was Bobby Singer, the son of the neighbors.

A little boy with short blond hair and blue eyes, who in the girl's opinion seemed to come straight out of the movie "The Sixth Sense".

" How the hell did you get in?" she muttered through her thick mouth, as she tried to get up. An effort that turned out to be completely useless.

Meanwhile, the child pointed to the back of the apartment.

" You forgot to close the door"

" And why are you here?" the ex-Avenger continued, staring at him with eyes reddened and slightly wet from tears.

Bobby just shrugged.

" I heard you screaming and I got scared. I thought you got a thief in the house"

" Well, as you can see I'm fine"

" It doesn't seem to me" he retorted, scrutinizing her with circumspection.

The young woman snorted angrily. Sometimes that kid could be a real nuisance. He reminded her of Pietro ...

She shook her head to free herself from that thought, which turned out to be a bad line of action.

As if from nowhere, a strong pain crossed her temples, making her jump.

Bobby looked at her worriedly before raising his lips in a little smile.

" Last night I dreamed that I was eating a chocolate cake with Captain America" he revealed casually.

Then, he wrinkled his face in a grimace.

" No, it's not true, I invented it. I actually dreamed about my teacher. She kept telling me I was in the wrong classroom, I kept telling her that I was in the right one, and then she replied in agreement, resumed the lesson for a while, and then told me I was in the wrong room, I told her that no, I was in the right one, and so on. Maddening to the max. What did you dream of?"

" Uhm ..."

Wanda tried in vain to remember. The new medicine seemed to make her sleep heavier.

Before, she happened to have nightmares about Vision. Generally her old lover had the same appearance as the last time she saw him, with the skin marbled with gray, as if it were a faded corpse.

Wanda asked Dr. Banner if he thought that dreams had something to do with guilt. The man looked at her sideways with his are-you-serious?expression that learned to endure, and then asked her whether or not she believed rabbits had big and long ears. All right. Received.

However, Wanda didn't miss the nightmares about Vision ... now she only had nightmares. A great improvement, in her opinion.

" Sorry, Bobby, nothing at all. If I had a dream, now it's gone forever" she muttered bitterly.

Having done this, she used the adjacent wall to support herself and managed to stand up.

The smell of the apartment was almost unbearable. Wanda felt her bare skin crawl and tried not to vomit, clutching her robe. The stench was a mixture of burned chemicals, stale marujana smoke and spoiled food. The girl looked around with the faintest of breaths.

That room was once used by a group of drug dealers to produce methamphetamine, which was why she had managed to buy it despite her scarce monetary fund.

In the center there was a gas cooker attached to yellowed tubes with two white bottles. On the counter against the wall, bottles of water, an open pack of airtight bags, pieces of cork, piles of used matches and a portable sink connected to a machine that wound from the outside. On the floor, both empty and full bottles of various liquors and crushed cans.

After taking some pills from her dressing gown, she grabbed one and took a quick sip, accompanied by the capsules.

Wanda closed her eyes and imagined she was dreaming.

The apartment become a ruin. Thick creepers climbed along the ancient walls of the room, disheveled by the September beauty. The roof was half-sprinkled, consumed by time and reduced to a gutter. A few lizards ran about on a pile of rusty debris. Butterflies pirouetted in the air. An intense smell of earth and leaves permeated the remains of the house.

Bobby was next to her and peered excitedly through a hole in the wall.

" Why are you drinking so much?"

The vision was shattered.

Wanda groaned. Well, it was nice as long as it lasted.

Her existence improved sharply thanks to Doctor Banner's pills. A serene and happy place was always waiting for her. She had to give credit to the man: chemistry fixed your life.

Wanda opened her eyes. The child stared at him strangely.

" What's wrong with you?" he asked her.

" Nothing, I was in heaven. And your big mouth ruined everything"

" I don't understand"

" It doesn't matter " the Scarlet Witch snorted, dropping the empty bottle on the floor.

Bobby stared at the scene with a vaguely disgusted expression.

" You still have to answer me. Why do you drink so much?" he repeated with more emphasis.

Wanda stared at him, impassive.

" Because I'm afraid" she replied with a cold and detached voice, aroused a confused look from the child.

" I'm afraid too, but I don't drink"

" Your fear and mine are of two different kinds" the girl replied, making a contemptuous gesture with her right hand.

The expression on Bobby's face became even more perplexed.

" I don't understand"

" As the years go by, the things that we can't fix anymore increase" she continued, while she opened the drawer of the bedside table and extracted some clothes.

Bobby looked down at the ground before giving her a pitiful look.

"Do you get tired?"

" Yes, you get tired. Now go out, I have to change"

Bobby did as ordered, much to the satisfaction of the former Avenger.

Then, the girl released a heartbroken sigh. Just another happy day for Wanda Maximoff, nothing new.

She had to talk to Banner, and quickly.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

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**All reviews are welcomed !**

**Next time…King Ghidorah. The nature of the "flea" will be revealed later. But those who have seen Godzilla's movies may already have an idea of what it is ...**


	4. Chapter 4

**I remind you that I am not English but Italian, so I apologize for all the grammatical errors you will find in this chapter.**

**I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, come forward! I just need someone to correct my grammatical errors.**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 4 :**

Dr. Jane Foster placed her notes and looked out the window of the aircraft.

The CH-53 Super Stallion sank quickly.

A strong breeze shook the helicopter thirty meters long. It almost seemed to fall on the platform in the middle of the sea, and the woman wondered how such a gigantic thing could stay afloat.

More than five hundred nautical miles north-east of New York, there was the USS Marine LDH-8, a floating city, strange and full of structures, with the charm of a space vehicle coming out from Alien. Two hectares of freedom and ninety-seven thousand tons of diplomacy, as Nick Fury called it. An old relic of a Shield in the process of rehabilitation: an hellicarier.

The helicopter turned.

In a circular motion, the Super Stallion moved towards the landing point and landed.

Through the side windows, Jane saw a man in yellow overalls giving directions to the pilot.

Some of the crew helped her unfasten her belt and put on a helmet, headphones, jacket and protective glasses. The flight was unpleasant and the woman felt ill on her legs.

With uncertain steps she got out of the helicopter, passed under the tail of the Super Stallion and looked around.

There were few people on the airstrip. That emptiness increased the impression of a surreal place: an almost endless paved expanse, dotted with fortifications, 257 meters long and 32 wide.

Jane knew it with precision.

After all, she was a scientist with a weakness for numbers, so she tried to know everything she could about the Shield's flagship, but in that case the theory capitulated in front of reality. The real ship had nothing to do with project drawings and technical data.

In the air there was an intense smell of oil and kerosene, mixed with that of hot rubber and salt.

The bridge was swept by a violent wind that seemed to tear off her suit. It was certainly not a place for leisure travel.

There were men with coloured jackets and ear muffs running all around. One went to meet her, while some soldiers unloaded the helicopter. They had a white jacket.

Jane tried to remember. White was the colour of those responsible for security. Those in yellow directed the helicopter traffic on the bridge, those dressed in red took care of the fuel and weapons.

" Follow me!" the man shouted, to dominate the roar of the rotors that were stopping.

He pointed to the only construction of the helicarrier. It looked like a condominium and was surmounted by antennas and enormous parabolas.

While following her companion, Jane mechanically touched her side with her right hand. Then it occurred to her that she couldn't take cigarettes because of the overalls. She couldn't even smoke in the helicopter.

Flying over the ocean with a strong wind was not a problem for her, but nicotine withdrawal was. It has been like this since she had her encounter with death around 14 years ago, by the hands of the infinity stone known as Aether.

The man opened a hatch and she entered the island, as that building was called in Navy parlance.

After passing a double bulkhead, she found herself breathing fresh, clean air, but couldn't erase the feeling of suffocation that the place communicated to her.

The security guard entrusted her to a man whom Jane knew very well. He was much taller than her, apparently in his sixties, with white hair pulled back and electric blue eyes. He was Dr. Erik Selvig, her old friend and head of an entirely new government division.

Both shook hands. In recent years, the woman had often worked with him to monitor the planet's extraterrestrial activity, after both were recruited by Shield.

"So what do you have for me?" she asked, receiving a smile from her colleague

" Now I'll show you"

and, after saying this, the man led her to a conference room, inside which there was a holographic projector.

He began to rummage in the pockets of his jacket and pulled out a black remote control, then aimed it in the direction of the contraption.

" It arrived this morning, we were lucky to receive the report. One of the fishermen living in the area found himself stuck in a storm and saw it plummet"

" Wasn't it detected by satellites?" the astrophysics asked, visibly perplexed. After all, in the aftermath of the New York invasion that took place in the distant 2012, the US government launched several advanced detection satellites around the planet's orbit so that they could detect any possible alien incursions in advance.

In response to the woman's question, Selvig promptly shook his head.

" No, and this is the interesting part. Do you see this sudden magnetic spike?" he said pointing to a distortion that surrounded an apparently empty section of space outside the planet. " It seems that it hid it during the descent to any electronic device. If we didn't detected the anomaly ... well, it could have gone completely unnoticed"

Jane looked at the image with eyes full of hidden charm.

" What is it? A meteor?" she asked with a puzzled voice, glancing towards his friend.

He smiled mischievously.

" That's what I thought too, at first. However ..."

He changed the image of the hologram, revealing a series of graphs and numbers.

" Look at the speed of the anomaly" he said indicating a series of very precise measurements, in the lower part of the screen.

Jane read it all with methodical attention ... and her heart skipped a beat.

"It slowed down," she whispered incredulously.

Selvig nodded in confirmation.

" Yep"

"Meteors don't slow down" she observed, with a de facto tone.

If possible, the smile on the companion's face seemed to widen.

" Especially one who, judging by the readings of the magnetic field, seems to have a diameter of a couple of kilometres, at least" he revealed with a tone that could barely hold back his excitement.

Without wasting time, Jane met Selvig's eyes with a determined and resolute expression.

" Take me down there"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The fog became less dense, the sky brightened, and, about two hours after the order to remain on the ground, one of the pilots started the race.

The squad leader retransmitted the communication to the aircraft ready for take-off, and these lifted dense veils of dust, turning momentarily into ghosts. Then they rose above the halicarrier, lining up behind the commander and heading west, towards their new destination: the Alaska coast.

Jane's Kiowa 58 flew beneath them, slightly to the right, which reminded her of the image of a John Wayne film, a column of blue uniforms behind an Indian scout who, on his pony's back, was in one side of the runway.

Although she couldn't see it, she imagined that Selvig was still reading the newspaper. Perhaps the horoscope.

After about three hours of flight, pines and the underlying firs began to appear and disappear like white smoked.

The fog flew against the two front windshields of the Chinook, danced and disappeared.

The flight was very turbulent - like being in a washing machine - but Jane didn't expected anything different. She faced worse.

She put the headset back on and listened to the music being transmitted. Nothing exciting, but better than Pearl Jam. What the woman feared was the team anthem. But she would have listened to that too. After all, there was nothing better to do.

Under the low clouds, little areas of an apparently endless forest started to appear.

" Red Boy Leader, here Red 2"

" Received, Two"

" I have an eye contact with the Body. Can you confirm?"

For a moment the pilot was unable to confirm, then he succeeded.

What Jane saw took her breath away.

It was one thing to look at a photo, an image bordered by a border, something you could hold in your hands. This was very different.

" I confirm, Two. Red Group, here Red Boy Leader. Stay in your current positions. I repeat: stay in the current positions"

One by one, the other helicopters confirmed that they received the order.

The Chinook and the Kiowa were held about a kilometer from the foreign body, in the direction of which an enormous strip of fallen trees could be seen, as if they were cut down by a gigantic grass cutter. At the end of this strip there was a marshy area. Dead trunks rose to the sky, as if they wanted to tear the clouds apart.

The unknown body, a gigantic red boulder with a diameter of about a couple of kilometers, poked out in the center of the impact zone, surrounded by broken branches.

The helicopter landed 100 meters away, where a steep rock face rose, largely collapsed into unstable ground.

On the surface of the body there were remains of broken pines and earth.

After just 45 minutes, the base camp was already been set up, littered with tents and military equipment.

When they approached the object, Jane couldn't help but open her mouth in shock.

The meteorite, although by now she strongly doubted that it was only this, had a round and chromed shape, with scarlet rock coverings that covered the entire surface like a layer of guano. In some places it was illuminated by an intense golden glow.

" Could it be a spaceship?" Jane whispered, while checking the temperature of the foreign body.

To her surprise it was incredibly cold. As if the descent into the atmosphere didn't even tarnished it, confirming the hypothesis of a sudden slowdown.

Selvig followed her, checking the area for any traces of radiation.

" The fact that today is considered a plausible hypothesis… well, it makes my skin crawl every tim" the man muttered, internally relieved that the geiger counter didn't mark anything abnormal.

Meanwhile, the woman gave him a wry smile.

"We have seen worse things," she stated with fact. And it was true, he knew too.

After the adventures spent with Thor, the invasion perpetrated by Loki, the dark elves, Asgard ... now, in the world, little was left to amaze that woman. And, in some ways, this never ceased to bother him.

After ascertaining that there was no trace of danger, the couple of scientists began to collect the first rock samples from the outer section of the object. They were forced to use a plastic kit, since anything that have even a small part of metal was attracted to the surface of the body and remained blocked there. The magnetic field exercised by that affair…had to be enormous.

Once the necessary was collected, the couple returned to the base camp and began to analyze the extracted material.

" There is a negative factor in each of the collected samples" Jane said, after observing a piece of the rock under the microscope.

Selvig joined her, his face adorned with a curious expression.

" A negative factor?"

" Yeah, see for yourself. Not even a positive extinction point, in none of them" the woman confirmed.

Her partner observed the composition of the sample with rapt fascination.

" Ah, really? It's strange ..."

" And look at this: I did a surface analysis. With the exception of a trace of iron phosphate, in minimal quantities, they are all silicates: quartz, feldspar, pyroxenes ... they all belong to the silica group, that is to solid silicates, but they are combined in a way that doesn't exist in any of the planets of our solar system!" the astrophisic exclaimed, with an ecstatic smile. " Whatever it is ... it comes from afar. VERY ... very afar"

Selvig briefly passed his head from the companion to the microscope, before releasing a resigned sigh.

"Okay, I'll contact Fury," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. After all, when it came to objects or individuals from other worlds ... well, the precaution was never too much.

" We quarantine the area and ..."

The man had no chance to finish the sentence.

As if out of nowhere, the whole region was suddenly beaten by one of the most violent storms that the inhabitants of the area had ever seen. Most of them lived in areas near the coast and saw the first clouds make their way to the point where the meteorite fell.

The fog travelled across the surface of the water at an alarming speed, white and unnatural. The evergreens on the other side of the coast began to look dusty and dejected.

Towards the west, large purple masses were slowly massing together like an army. Lightning flashed inside them and thunder rumbled.

The air began to stir in gusts, first lifting the foliage like twigs, and then letting it fall back.

Jane looked at it with a puzzled expression.

" I thought the storm was over"

" Yes, me too" Selvig muttered, squeezing both eyelids.

And then ... the earth began to tremble.

From the centre of the town of Angoon, about 20 km from the impact site, the few men and women who filled the streets at that time of day jumped in unison, as soon as a slight rumble of settlement caused the glass in the windows and the walls of each building to vibrate.

Some people grumbled fervently, wondering if this was an area at risk of earthquakes, but apart from a few questioning looks and a couple of exchanged glances, no one thought of attributing a note of importance to the small and apparently harmless event.

After all, it was a quiet country, nothing noteworthy never happened there, and never would have happened. Or at least, this was the commonplace everyone was ready to bet before that day revealed to them how, in truth, they were naive.

When the first slight wave gave way to the tumult that would follow, the smartest immediately understood that they were enormously wrong.

A great earthquake, the most powerful ever recorded in all of Alaska, and the first that was felt in this region, hit the village causing all the structures in the surrounding area to crack and breaking through the asphalt paths on which the inhabitants sought to stand in balance.

The trees began to shake, stirred by the roots, tables and chairs fell on the unfortunate patrons of the premises, burning someone with the hot drinks spilled from the cups, while the machines and means of transport rolled over on their sides, injuring the unwary passengers.

The soldiers who were too close to the meteor at that time met a quick and sudden death, among the screams of those who, instead, were only forced to observe.

While everything was falling too fast, a branching of fractures, which, like a spider's web, extended for a radius of thirty-forty meters, began to rise from the centre of the site like a mound of earth moved by a hard-working digger mole.

A great hill of rubble was formed, stone and dust tens of meters high, which then imploded on itself swallowing the meteor, means of transport, tents and countless soldiers who, too shaken to react, ended up devoured by the enormous chasm that it ended to be created.

Some people, most distant from the catastrophe, fell prey to a chilling paralysis and, although their rational parts begged them to escape, their muscles didn't listen to them, refusing to move. They were the first to see it.

Something gigantic emerged from the crater, bringing with it large blocks of mud, snow and debris.

First there was a large and dizzying arm, to which a membrane of flesh and blood was attached which bound the hooked end to the titanic body. It almost looked like the wing of a bat ... and it was as big as a Jumbo 747.

It fell on the site of the impact, clinging to the edge of the abyss.

The second wing came out immediately afterwards and it fell on the ground, displacing a gust of dust which, for a moment, obscured the visibility of the soldiers gathered in the area.

The first head of the monster, and with it the rest of the body, came out of the gigantic pit at the tail of the mighty limbs. Two more followed, each connected to the massive figure by a long neck bristling with spikes.

" You've got to be kidding me" Selvig whispered, his face adorned with an expression that bordered on extreme fear mixed with surprise and resignation. Jane found herself in agreement with her friend's reaction.

The huge titan bowed over his sturdy legs, panting heavily - perhaps to regain his strength - and finally raised itself into a bipedal position, thus revealing its real features.

Perhaps 160 meters high (provisional estimate calculated on its proportions compared to trees) it was covered by a thick layer of golden scales.

The powerful musculature of the legs fell to the sides of a slightly slimmer chest, without forelegs. The whole was supported by a pointed tail the size of the body itself, ending with two ends filled with hooks.

Each head was elongated, with reptilian features, adorned with numerous bony protuberances that started directly from the center of the forehead and from the sides of the skull, similar to horns. Blood-red eyes looked at the earth below, searching for a target to turn their fury on.

The creature shook its body to free itself from the waste that accumulated in the hollows between the scales.

The blocks of rubble that fell were nothing but soot for him, but they were big enough to kill any human being who had recklessly found himself on their fall line.

Then, the central head, whose horns were much more pronounced than those of the other two, turned to a group of soldiers standing a hundred yards away, staring at them with a fierce look ... and, for a moment, seemed to smile.

The beast turned, shaking the area with its heavy footstep and lifting pieces of soil and semi-melted snow.

At the same time, the right head squared the trees that ascended into the surroundings. It studied the snow below, the mountains and the military structures erected along the perimeter of the crash, like a scrupulous demolisher who planned in time the most effective way to raze his target.

It met the confused and frightened looks of his tiny audience and gave a feeble verse, a mixture between the hiss of a snake and the growl of a crocodile.

Meanwhile, the left head lowered, peering with a curious glint at the dead body of a soldier who was hit by debris. It opened his mouth slightly, revealing a row of hideous pale and immaculate teeth, through which a forked tongue made its way.

Torrents of dense and rotting slime overflowed from the lips, releasing stifling outflows that stank of carrion and deterioration. At the same time, the head began to feel the lifeless body of the human being.

Jane, who was watching the scene from behind a fallen log, noticed that it looked almost like a cat playing with the newly killed prey.

Its blood-red eyes had a curious, almost childlike glint. It seemed genuinely happy about the discovery it just made!

Then, the central head of the beast lowered itself to the level of the corpse, hissing at the one on the left in a decidedly more threatening way ... as if it was scolding it.

Faced with this sight, Jane couldn't help but staring. Those heads ... were each equipped with independent thought? She knew about snakes that possessed a similar characteristic, due to genetic alterations suffered during the hatching. But for such a large animal, having three distinct personalities who shared the same body ... well, it was simply unbelievable, it violated everything she knew about the natural order! But then again, that creature with draconic appearances seemed anything but unnatural.

While the woman was engaged in those mental digressions, the central head of the monster growled at the other two, and these stood up like a pair of faithful soldiers ready to execute the orders of their apparent commander.

Then, the creature swelled belly and chest, so much that for a moment the most deluded believed that it was going to explode.

A yellowish glow began to spread along the scales of the long necks, followed by a low and rhythmic buzz, like the noise caused by the engine of an airplane ready to fly.

At that point, someone found the strength to beat a retreat, understanding what was going to happen, but not everyone had the same spirit readiness.

" Jane, run!" Selvig exclaimed, pushing his companion forcefully. And it was precisely that timely action that saved the astrophysicist's life.

The titan opened its jaws ... and, as if from nowhere, a torrent of electric discharges poured over the area, reducing to ashes whatever was in its action range.

Soldiers of every race were swept away by the intensity of those blows, while the trees and rocks in the area were pulverized into sharp splinters. Selvig was among the first to suffer that horrible fate, while everything was accompanied by a deafening cry and a grotesque laughter.

Several kilometers from the site, in the village of Angoom, the cracks on the walls caused by the earthquake expanded to such an extent that some buildings ended up collapsing on themselves, vanishing from the mapping of the village.

The beast closed its mouth and, while the survivors tried to understand what just happened, it began to rage at whatever met his path**,** lashing the area with its wings and raising a wave of dust, debris and mud that drowned most of the survivors.

At the same time, the various heads of the creature resumed their attack, triggering lightning on the surrounding area. Soldiers were not even given the chance to fire back.

Jane launched into a daring escape towards the forest, barely avoiding one of the blast. The shock wave caused by the blow, however, was strong enough to knock her body against a rock, causing her to lose consciousness.

Meanwhile, the creature observed its work with apparent satisfaction, visibly pleased with the devastation it just caused.

Noticing the lack of movement, its ancient brain came to the conclusion that there were no survivors. Arriving at this realization, it opened its immense wings and raised a dense cloud of dust and snow, bringing down a dark shadow over the entire forest.

Almost like a signal, the storm became more threatening, while the rain increased in intensity. And when the creature took flight, carrying dead branches and billowing corpses, the sky became an echo of lightning and thunder.

King Ghidorah, the golden death ... had come to Earth.

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**XXXX**

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**All reviews are welcomed !**

**And yes, Ghidorah have three personalities like in the new movie : Ichi ( middle head ), Ni ( right head ) and San...aka Kevin ( Left head ). **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, boys and girls...I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!**

**Yes, I finally decided to continue this story. In fact, I've already finished it, I just have to translate the various chapters and I finally found a beta reader to correct them.**

**I'll try to publish one chapter per week, but much will depend on the reviews. I wish you a good read!**

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**XXXX**

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**Chapter 4 :**

The conference room was structured according to an overlap of several floors.  
Each of them attended as many seats arranged in descending order along a row of twelve desks, neatly constructed on a total of five different orders of height.  
In the upper balconies, positioned along the side facades and parallel to the area reserved for the Vice-President, numerous seats stood out, all occupied.

Fury was in the upper part of the room, partially hidden in the shadows. Beside him was the well-placed figure of Colonel James Rhodes, known to the general public with the nickname of War Machine.  
Once the campaign against Thanos was over, he had become one of the main points of reference for the New Avengers and, after impressing the President with a report on global security, he had been called into the national security council, and chosen to be Cabinet Secretary.

Rhodes had immediately adopted a very tough course of action.  
In many ways, his thinking was even more intransigent than that of the Republican administration, but in him the driving force was patriotism. All with a certain dose of liberalism, probably due to the bad experience suffered during the Sokovia Accords, which had left him unable to walk without the use of cybernetic prostheses.

Carol Danvers, aka Capitan Marvel, was a few places lower.

By more than twenty minutes now, the woman was engaged in a heated debate with Senator Kelly. The topic of the discussion? The approval of a registration act to identify every single person on Earth with superhuman abilities.

"In recent years, human beings with superpowers have been able to coexist peacefully with the rest of the population, so I don't see the reason to interrupt these relationships ..."

"An exemplary choice of words", Kelly interrupted with a sharp tone. "However, Miss Danvers, I'm afraid you haven't hit the crux of the matter. That is, the subject of this meeting. In a nutshell ... are superhumans dangerous?"

"I think this is an incorrect question, Senator. After all, even the wrong person at the wheel can be dangerous", the blonde argued.

"But we give a license to drive", the man replied, curling both lips in a feral smile.

Carol nodded in agreement.  
"Yes, but not for life", she replied firmly.

Then, she turned her attention to the various people gathered in the room.  
"Vice-President, gentlemen, even you cannot deny that many of the superhumans who have courageously revealed their identity to the world's eyes ... have been received with fear, violence and even anger. Because of this hostility, I urge the government to maintain stable relations between the two races. Forcing superhumans to reveal themselves will do no more than ..."

"Reveal themselves?" Kelly asked, rolling his eyes. "I wonder what the superhuman community has got from being so afraid of revealing itself to the world."

"I never said this ..."

Carol didn't have the possibility to finish the sentence.  
Maria Hill, Vice-Director of the Shield, chose that moment to enter the room.

"Vice-Director Hill, we are in the middle of a meeting", Fury scolded her, although internally he was rather grateful for the sudden interruption.

Panting, the woman took a couple of soothing breaths and turned a visibly agitated expression to her superior.  
"Director Fury, gentlemen, I am sincerely sorry, but ... there is one thing you must see", she said urgently.

And, without even waiting for someone's confirmation, the woman headed for the only holoprojector in the room.

Fury followed her with his eyes, thinking with amusement at the lack of knowledge of the human race that characterized his deputy.  
She was an excellent soldier and an extraordinary strategist, but she struggled to distinguish men from machines. She seemed almost convinced that, in the human body, there was a sector to be programmed somewhere in order to be sure that the instructions were executed. It was perhaps her only weakness.

When she reached her destination, the woman began to activate the holoprojector.  
The device was connected to the planet's satellite network via a remote connector, so it could also be used to access TV channel recordings.

Tinkering with the remote control of the device, Maria scrolled through a series of videos along the right side of the screen, until she found what she really wanted.

"It was broadcast five minutes ago", she revealed with a grim look, opening the file.

The video showed what looked like a news bulletin. Fury didn't know the network that was broadcasting it, maybe a local one.  
In the television studio there was a well-dressed woman. The face with Asian features denoted a severe beauty. It looked Chinese. No ... it was half Chinese. There was a decisive detail that was out of tune with the rest. The eyes were clear, aquamarine, absolutely not Asian.  
The name 'Trisha Tanaka' was written in the low part of the screen.

The woman began by saying: _"It's not a publicity stunt, nor a reply of The Day After Tomorrow. A Force 6 Hurricane, originating from Alaska, has sown chaos and destruction in a great part of North America."_

Upon hearing these words, every single person in the room gave a start. Even Kelly lost his seraphic expression, that was replaced by a worried look.

_"The storm, apparently coming from nowhere, reached the United States in a few hours after crossing Canada, and now heads towards New York at a speed of 3000 km per hour, devastating everything in its path. We don't yet have an estimate of the victims involved, but it's assumed that the number of deaths and injuries is drastically high"_, the reporter continued.

Fury narrowed his eyes, absorbing all the information with the precision of a computer.  
As far as he knew, the hurricanes never moved so fast. They were localized storms, which developed in the tropical areas of the planet. Moreover, he was quite sure that a hurricane could not exceed Force 5.

The woman's subsequent words confirmed his thoughts.  
_"The hurricane, the most powerful ever witnessed in living memory according to experts, is currently flying over the state of Connecticut. Our correspondent on the spot, Steven Harrington, is about to broadcast from the scene of the disaster."  
_  
The image suddenly changed, revealing a chilling scenario.  
The town from which the service was broadcast seemed like a real battlefield. The sky was on fire, while debris of all shapes and sizes hovered and lashed in mid-air as if mad.

People screamed and ran everywhere, as the winds stirred the trees, hoisted the means of transport, and reduced the dwellings to shabby and manufactured clusters.  
In the midst of this catastrophe there was a middle-aged man with short brown hair pulled back, his eyes fixed on the camera.

_"It's an apocalyptic scene!"_ he shouted, shielding himself with his arms to reduce friction with the wind. _"The hurricane has already swept away three neighbourhoods and is proceeding at an alarming rate towards the most populated centres! The evacuations have already begun, but I seriously doubt that everyone will have the time to ... holy shit, have you seen that?!"_

The view of the camera pointed to the right, where a titanic explosion reduced a couple of houses to ashes.  
The shock wave generated by the recoil was strong enough to lift a truck and crash it into another house.

_"It's chaos, it's indescribable!"_ the reporter continued, taking a few steps away from the impact zone. _"It really feels like living in a terrifying nightmare, but it's not a dream! It's the real ..."  
_  
He had no chance to finish the sentence. A billboard as big as a car fell on the man, interrupting the transmission.

Total silence reigned in the conference room. No one seemed to know what to say or do to argue that discouraging vision, on the verge of madness.  
Then, Fury turned his head towards Rhodes.

"Which is the nearest air base?" he asked urgently, making the colonel jump.

"The one in Trenton, ten minutes from the state", he informed him after a moment of silence.

Fury nodded to himself. "Tell them to send a high altitude drone in the middle of that thing."

"One moment, you don't have the authority to…" Kelly intruded, before being promptly interrupted by Rhodes.

"Yes, he has it", he declared, nailing the senator on the spot.

After that, he gave the Shield's Director a sceptical look. "Do you think it will be able to overcome the storm?"

Fury fell in a state of deep contemplation.

"Tell them to coat it with a layer of rubber and non-conductive polymers", he ordered after a few seconds. "We can only hope that they have a pilot who is skilled enough to avoid all those lightning bolts."**  
**

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**XXXX**

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When it comes to a hurricane, the speed of the winds - like most things that accumulate - grows exponentially: a wind that blows at 300 kilometres per hour is not simply 10 times stronger than a wind that reaches 30, but 100 - and therefore it will be much more destructive. If this acceleration effect is added to that of several million tons of air, the result, in terms of energy, will be extraordinary.

In one day, a tropical hurricane can release as much energy as it consumes. In one year, the same amount of the medium-sized industrialized nations, such as England or France.

How does a hurricane form? Due to a sudden temperature change. Only this is needed. A small leap of pressure could cause the birth of one of the greatest calamities generated by Mother Nature.

There were very few things capable of flying inside a hurricane. B-22 drones were among them.

One of them took off at 13:00 from the Trenton air base in New Jersey.  
The code name of the mission was GRAND ZERO. Piloting the rover remotely was Major James Conrad, who had served in the Gulf War and in Iraq.  
The aircraft was equipped with the most advanced navigation instruments, but flying through a hurricane was certainly not one of the tasks for which it was designed.

At 13:05 a red light on the control panel became amber.

Conrad took control of the vehicle and began to position it. Below it, the airbase disappeared into the clouds.

James spoke into the microphone. "We're about to open the dances, sir."

From Nevada, Colonel James Rhodes replied: "Roger, major. Good luck and try to fly as close as possible to the eye of that monster."

"It will be done", Conrad retorted.

At 13:20, the amber spy began to throb. A couple of minutes later, it turned green.  
At that point, the man saw on the video the scenery that stood out in the Connecticut skies.  
Yes, at that moment the word 'Hell' was perhaps the most appropriate term to indicate what he was witnessing.

The drone was also broadcasting in the base room conference in Nevada, and the various people gathered in it held their breath.  
That was perhaps the worst time. The long, eternal tension that a storm produced had this effect: the endless wait before the imminent catastrophe.

**BAM!**

The module was hit by a current of air that pushed it first upwards and then downwards. The controls were electronic, not manual, but Conrad still risked losing control.

The drone's lights began to flash, while the alarms activated intermittently.  
Fortunately, the machine skilfully avoided most of the larger lightning bolts. Some shocks managed to hit the surface, but the rubber coating was doing its job.

In the air thick with humidity, the passage of the module caused whirls in the mist, leaving a long trail behind.

Finally, the aircraft reached the eye of the storm, as it was friendly called by meteorologists. It was in that moment that the horror began to appear on the faces of the gathered spectators.

"What the hell ..." Carol whispered, her eyes fixed on the gigantic shape that now occupied the view of the drone.

A gigantic being, as she had never seen during her many journeys around the universe. Equipped with wings as large as those of an airliner and a massive body, adorned by the presence of three long necks. Each of them ended with a small, tapered head, similar to that of a snake.  
Even in the twilight of the storm, the woman was able to catch a glimpse of three pairs of blood-red eyes that illuminated the features of those hideous and grinning faces.

Carol didn't believe in evil conceived as a concrete entity, but at that moment she seemed to stare at the darkness itself, made of bones and flesh.**  
**  
"Tell me you're seeing it too", Rhodes muttered, as the dragon appeared in the eye of the hurricane, surrounded by angry clouds and occasional lightning. Maria nodded unconsciously, her mouth slightly wide open.

At the same time, Fury stared at the creature in amazement, remaining silent for about a minute.

He turned his attention to Carol.  
"How long do you think it will take you to intercept it?" he asked with a tone much more agitated than the woman had ever heard before.

"I would say 30 minutes", she replied, briefly passing her head from the director to the images transmitted.

Fury nodded, and took a deep breath.  
Then, he turned his head to Maria, whose complexion had become as pale as a ghost's.

"Contact the base again ... and tell them to prepare an air strike, immediately."

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**XXXX**

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Children often dream of becoming superheroes ... obtain superpowers and saving people. But they never think about what a superhero's life is like when he's not on a mission. It's not very different from that of other people.  
The hero suffers, loves, desires, hopes, has his fears and needs people to help him in certain matters. And this is perhaps the most difficult part of his life.  
No one knew this better than Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch.

At the age of just eleven she had lost her parents in a bombing. Seven years later, it was her brother's turn. Ten years ago, although only five had passed for her ... she had lost the most important person in her life.

Currently, the young woman was lying on a therapeutic couch in a room with a welcoming and comfortable interior. Nothing too opulent, some loose furniture, a couple of shelves full of books and a pretty table in the middle. In a nutshell, it looked like a classic office.

A few meters from her, sitting in an oversized armchair, there was a man whose appearance would have raised several eyebrows.  
The mere fact that he wore clothes, despite the enormous size of his body, seemed a miracle in itself. He was almost three meters tall, had a muscular build ... and green skin.

There was not a single person on the planet who didn't know the identity of this bizarre individual: Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk, one of the original Avengers.

After the war against Thanos, few would have expected the career choice that the former thermonuclear physicist had chosen for himself.  
In fact, after pursuing a degree in psychology, Banner had decided to open a clinic for people with superhuman abilities, reserved for all those individuals with special abilities who had difficulty settling into society or controlling their own powers.  
In a short time, the clinic had become a frequent destination for many superhumans, including Wanda.

"Usually, when people ask me how I am, the real answer is _I feel like shit_", she began with an impassive voice, her eyes turned towards the ceiling. "But I can't say '_I feel like shit_', because I don't have a good reason to feel like shit. So, if I say '_I feel like shit_', then they say _'Why, what's wrong?',_ And I have to say _'I don't know. Like ... everything?' _So instead, when people ask me how I am, I usually say…_I'm_ _Great._"

She released a heartbroken sigh.

"But when today the neighbours' son asked me if I was having a nice day, I thought, well, today I can really afford to feel like shit, today I have a good reason, so I told him 'Well, today is the day in which I lost the most important person in my life'", she ended with a self-deprecating smile.

Then, she turned her head slightly towards Banner.

"And the worst thing? At that precise moment I realized how messed up my life is", she continued with a de facto tone, as she sank further into the cot.

She raised her right hand and clenched it in a fist, almost as if she wanted to grab something invisible, suspended in mid-air.

"I got tired of living hating others, despising the world, giving it resentment. I got tired of living without loving anyone. I don't have a friend, not even one. And above all, I can't love myself. Do you know why?" she asked rhetorically, while the doctor scrutinized her carefully. "Because I am incapable of loving others. And it's only by loving others, and being loved, that one learns to love them self. I ... I just want to forget. I just want to be able to let go…and go on."

At that point, an inexorable silence seemed to fall into the depths of the room. The only audible sound was the slight buzz caused by the building's heating system.

After about a minute of total stillness, Banner took off his glasses and gave them a quick clean.

"You know ..." he suddenly said, attracting the girl's attention. "Memories are just a fuel to feed life. Whether a memory is important or not, in practice it does the same, it's just fuel. Life goes on anyway. A sheet of newspaper, a book of philosophy ... it's the same, when they end up in the fire they become simple sheets of paper. It's not that the fire while burning thinks 'wow, this is Kant' or 'here is the new edition of Batman!'. For the fire they're only sheets of paper, nothing more. Well, with memories it's the same thing. The important ones, the beautiful ones, the ugly ones ... they are just fuel, all of them without distinction."

He nodded at his own words and tapped his head.

"And if by chance I didn't have that fuel, if the drawer of the memories inside me didn't exist, I think that for a long time I would have gone mad. I would have been lost forever, trapped in some miserable hole. It's thanks to the experiences and learnings from bad memories that I can continue to go on. When I think I can't do it anymore, when I'm about to throw in the towel, somehow I always manage to get out of it. Bad memories, however unpleasant ... they are part of what you are, and what you want to become. You just have to stop seeing them as an obstacle, and use them as fuel."

"You make it seem easy", the woman remarked with a loud snort.

In response, Banner just shrugged, as if he had heard that statement a million times.

Wanda was further silent. Then she sat up and stared intently at the doctor.  
"I want anti depressants", she said with a convinced tone.

Banner raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I just need them as a precaution", the former Avenger argued, shrugging her shoulders in turn.

Banner looked back at her.  
"…Chekhov wrote: 'If a gun appears in a novel, it has to shoot'", he replied with an impassive tone.

After hearing these words, Wanda crossed both arms in front of her chest, her face adorned with a frown. "What does it mean?"

The doctor stood in front of her, overlooking her thin figure.  
"It means that in a story you shouldn't introduce objects if they are not necessary. If a gun appears in a story, it necessarily has to shoot at some point in the narration. Chekhov loved writing short stories", the man explained.

The Scarlet Witch rolled her eyes. "This is what worries you. Do you think that if the gun appears on stage, it will certainly shoot?"

"Taking Chekhov's point of view, yes."

"So if you could, you would avoid giving me a 'gun'?"

"It's a dangerous and illegal weapon. Furthermore, I would add that Chekhov is a trusted writer."

"But this is not a novel. We're talking about the real world", she admonished with a contemptuous tone.

Banner narrowed his eyes and stared at the woman's face.  
"Who knows?" he asked rhetorically, then curled both his lips in a complicit smile.

Wanda released a second sigh. "So you won't give them to me."

"I would be a bad doctor if I did it", the man confirmed, with an apologetic tone.

Despite her anger, the young woman found herself smiling. In her heart she knew he was doing all this for her own good, he was that kind of human being. This didn't make him less irritating, but it was better than the indifference she received from other people.

"Sometimes I wonder why I keep coming to you."

"You said it yourself, you have no friends", Banner answered, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "But you still want to talk to someone, and I'm the only one who could throw you into a wall in case you had a burst of anger."

"I think I could beat you", she replied, with a catchy grin.

Banner burst out laughing.  
"Continue to repeat it to yourself, and maybe one day we'll both believe it", he said cheerfully, as he led her to the exit.

The woman adjusted her dress and started to cross the door.

"Wanda ..." the doctor stopped her, making her turn around.

The expression on the man's face seemed to have softened, although it was difficult to say because of his general appearance.

"Be strong. It might seem like a cliché phrase ... but the night is darker just before the dawn", he said with a gentle voice.

Wanda, slightly touched by the doctor's words, smiled sadly.  
"And please", Banner continued, with a much more serious tone. "Stop taking… well, whatever drug you are taking."

The young woman was about to argue. However, after opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, she lowered her head and nodded slowly. Why did the people around her always have to be so perceptive?

With that thought in mind, she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Once outside the building, she began to head for Central Park. By now, for her it had become a sort of daily tradition: a visit to the doctor and then straight to the park to get an ice cream.  
And as the woman started walking... the wind began to rise throughout the state of New Jersey.

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**XXXX**

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The engine began to roar. On the wings, long-range surface-to-air missiles had been loaded, capable of opening a hole of several meters into the side of an American battleship.

The jets were ready for take-off, quivering for the upcoming battle.  
Corporal Alice Williams came running and, skilfully moving her hands, removed the wedges from the wheels of her aircraft. Her companions did the same.

Ten minutes later, the roaring jets took off one after the other, rising in impeccable formation over the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean.

After another ten minutes ... they faced the storm. A whirl of clouds as black as night, constantly bombarded by lightning and bolts. An agglomeration of tornadoes and furious gas masses suspended in the sky like white smoke.

"My God ... the sky seems alive", one of the pilots whispered, occasionally covering his eyes because of too intense lightning. Williams agreed with him.  
Swallowing hard, the woman replied with a faint: "Perhaps because it is."

Then, she raised the tip of the plane and began to overcome the superficial storm layer, quickly followed by the rest of the squadron.  
On board the fighters there was no place for imagination. The various pilots were all too busy resisting the concrete reality of the jolts that began to toss them over and over.  
It was just the effect of the wind, but every time it was like to crash into a rocky wall. Who would have thought that the air could be so solid? Williams thought, tightening the controls.

Even worse than the turbulence were the incessant electrical discharges that tore the clouds around them, so frequent and close to light up the interior of the passenger compartment.

"They are just lightning", the corporal kept repeating to herself, trying to be brave.

It seemed impossible that the planes could withstand all those shocks, but Williams knew they had been designed on purpose. Despite that awareness didn't prevent her from feeling worried, she was aware that the fate of the team depended on her, so she tried to remain calm.

Then, without warning, the jolts ceased, replaced by the menacing but familiar squeak of the screws in the cabin bulkheads. After a moment that sound also disappeared, and the plane came out of the cloud cover. With tight lips, Williams allowed herself a smile of relief.

They had overcome that terrible storm, and equipment and crew were unharmed.

Finally, after that brief moment of breathing, they saw the monster's figure appearing in the eye of that hell, a beast whose only mass seemed to occupy the whole horizon. Because it was the storm ... and the storm was part of it.

"Eye contact confirmed", Williams whispered, once again tightening the controls of the fighter.

"Williams, you have to attract the attention of that son of a bitch in whatever way you think necessary. Try to make it change course", Rhodes said on the radio. Maria Hill was next to him in the control room, while the technicians worked around them with cold determination and efficiency.

The mission assigned by Rhodes to the group of pilots was to keep the creature as far away as possible from populated centres, possibly towards the sea, where it would be intercepted by the navy.

A female voice was heard on the radio. "Roger, sir. Approaching in 60 seconds. I have it in my viewfinder."

The sky above the countryside suddenly filled with machine gun fire, while the various pilots suddenly found themselves facing the immense bulk of their opponent.  
The bullets, however, bounced harmlessly on the monster's golden scales, like freshly fallen rain.

Williams wrinkled her lips in a grimace and swooped down, dangerously close to one of the beast's heads.  
Noticing the aircraft, the left head snapped its jaws in mid-air but hit the void. At the same time, the central head remained motionless, merely staring at those strange mechanical insects with the corner of the eye.

Then, upon reaching the creature's side, Williams pressed the switch that fired the missile launch.  
She shot two, and both ended up straight just below the monster's wings, emitting flames along the membrane. In response to this unexpected attack, Ghidorah gave a cry of pure surprise.

_"Nice shot, Williams!"_

Rhodes silently clenched a fist in victory, hearing the message of one of the pilots. He looked at Fury, who was already preparing the next move. He leaned toward the microphone and spoke firmly._ "Griffin, aim at the heads, tries to hit its eyes."_

The voice of the pilot answered strong and clear.  
"Affirmative, I am sixty meters from the target."

The plane veered sharply, dived and planted a couple of missiles in the neck of the right head, which released a chilling growl.

Struck several times but apparently not seriously damaged, the creature continued its advance, not before, however, having thrown a furious glance towards its attackers.  
Then, the monster swooped down on that sea of thundering clouds. Above it, the jets approached at full speed, making the sound of engines roar above the storm.

The noise seemed to further irritate the enormous reptile that, with a threatening hiss, dived among the gaseous masses and disappeared at the sight of the squadron.

An inexorable silence seemed to fall into the depths of the typhoon, as if a phantom hand had descended from the sky to envelop that hell in an unnatural stillness.  
The various pilots began to look around frantically, throwing occasional glances at the instrumentation. The storm, however, made long distance detection impossible.

And then, as if from nowhere, the immense shadow of Ghidorah came out of the clouds with a flap of wings.

"Target at two o'clock!"

As soon as they heard Williams' voice, the rest of the fighters stared in horror at the monitors, noting the intermittent bright red spot that indicated the beast as it appeared behind the squadron.

_"Griffin, it's pointing you ... unhook!"_ Rhodes shouted in the radio's microphone.

"No! He was hit, he was hit!"

Williams' cry announced the bad news, as one of the green dots disappeared from the radar.

In the sky, pierced by a fierce and unexpected enemy attack, one of the fighters disintegrated in a rain of red-hot metal and sparkling splinters. Williams' plane veered, in an attempt to escape the monster's unstoppable beams, but one of the engines was put out of action by a well-aimed blow.

"Evasive action, now!" Rhodes ordered, grabbing the edge of the table until his knuckles were white. His voice was firm. The same could not be said of that of the pilot.

"The heads surround me on all sides ... I can't get them off me!"

Williams' tone was tense, like that of those who speak with clenched teeth. "I have an engine out of use! I can only use half my speed!"

Rhodes's answer was instantaneous. _"Launch, Williams, now!"_

Without wasting time, the woman operated the ejection seat. In the fraction of a few seconds, the cabin of the plane was replaced by the immensity of the sky.  
Feeling the cold air and rain wetting her face, Williams tried to activate the parachute. She didn't get the chance.

Ghidorah's central head opened its jaws, closing them just above the small woman's figure. All under the astonished eyes of the squadron and the command centre.

One of the pilots, hovering above the creature, was determined to avenge the corporal. He cursed, then swooped down, approaching the target's back.

"Jason, stop, it's dangerous!" one of his companions shouted, who had noticed that action. However Jason's plane continued to approach the monster, and when he was in front of it he made a sudden climb and began to shoot.

At that moment, a dazzling flash erased the shadows of the storm.  
The dragon threw up a flash of white light from the jaws of the central head. Jason's plane swung as if it was made of paper and, within seconds, it was engulfed in flames.  
The surviving planes veered with the jerky energy of a gang behind-fronting the bottom of the Rose Bowl, and the 50 caliber went into action.

The bullets sank into the beast's skin, but the creature didn't seem to notice. Then, every single head opened, its jaws bristling with sharp teeth.  
At that point, the new squad leader, who immediately succeeded Williams' death, had a terrible premonition.

"Bastard!"

A young boy named Alex Newell, almost panting with impatience, was screaming.  
And, anticipating the comrade's order, one of the fighters sank below the bottom layer of the hurricane, while the rotors raised a storm of gas and rainwater, flattening the clouds.

"No, negative. Go back to the previous position plus fifty!" the squad leader shouted, pulling the bar and raising the aircraft. Despite the thunder, the man heard the grievances of the crew.

He saw that Alex had already moved away. Whatever the tortuosity of his mind was, the pilot was not a fool, and his instincts worked perfectly.

"But sir ..."

"I repeat, we must go back immediately!"

And then, Ghidorah's body released another burst of electric beams.

The explosion threw the squad leader against the seat and hurled Alex's plane up like a toy. He heard someone swearing and tugged at the bar.  
There were shouts behind him, but although all the men had been injured, the only one to die was Alex himself.

"Damn!" one of the pilots screamed, but the squad leader thought that at least thirty seconds had passed before the man had really succeeded, seconds that seemed hours to him. Behind him, someone was still screaming.

Then, the squadron leader's plane struck the monster's side and began to fall. And then another. And another one.

Ghidroah had begun to spin around, and each time it did that, its huge wings crashed into a member of the small fleet.  
The hunters had become prey, and there was nothing they could do to overturn such a desperate situation.  
After less than a minute ... they were all dead.

From the command centre, Fury and the rest of the staff watched the monitors with grim looks and a heavy heart, while the faces of each pilot involved in the operation went from green to red, signalling their death.

Then, when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, one of the technicians caught the Director's attention.

"Sir ... it has just reached New York."

* * *

**XXXX**

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**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!  
**

**Writing this chapter was very fun, I just LOVE making scenes about Ghidorah killing people and destroying things.**

**Next chapter, our dragon will meet his first Avenger...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's a new chapter****. I wish you a good read!**

**Don't forget to review ;)**

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**XXXX**

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**Chapter 5:**

Peter Parker pulled the mask over his forehead, lowering it over his eyes. Total darkness for a split second. He lined up the holes so he could see and continued to lower it over his nose, mouth, and finally his chin.

He looked in the mirror: he had become Spiderman once again.

He opened the bedroom window and climbed up the outside wall, with the red and blue of his costume blending into the bricks and plaster.  
When he got to the roof, he let his eyes wander over the city. The majestic buildings, the paths and more in the centre the skyscrapers that protruded towards the sky like fingers ready to grasp something.

Peter took a few steps back and inspired deeply, absorbing all that was around him and driving all the anxieties back. Then he took off.

He took a run and jumped out of the building. And then he darted from roof to roof, as easily as he would have jumped out of puddles on a sidewalk, until he arrived in Time Square.  
Then he dived into the glide, shooting webs from both hands to attach himself to the buildings, the telephone poles and whatever structures were within reach, and then re-launched himself again in the air, flying very high above the people who filled the streets like ants.

He didn't even care where he was going, he just wanted to savour the feeling that gave him flying. The feeling that made him fall knowing that he wouldn't crash into the ground.

Finally he perched on the roof of a skyscraper and began to observe the surrounding area, before zooming on a particular building: one of the numerous branches of Stark Industries scattered around the city. Real gold mines for anyone interested in acquiring high-level technology.

The spider sense began to vibrate in his head.

He saw a total of five men, armed with pistols and automatic rifles, their faces covered in black hoods.  
Criminals, surely. And they seemed to be the only individuals in the room on the twentieth floor of the building.

Peter took a deep breath, and shot a couple of webs to create a sort of catapult. After this, he used it to launch himself against the building's window.

He hit one of the thieves in the chest, knocking him across the room.  
His companions raised their weapons almost instinctively but, perhaps too surprised by the sudden appearance of the vigilante, they didn't fire.

Peter lifted a few pieces of glass from his overalls, offering the group a lazy greeting.  
"The recreation is over, gentlemen. And it seems that you…will all end up in detention", he said ironically.

"Why does your presence not surprise me?" commented a monotonous voice to the boy's right, which prompted him to turn around suddenly. Apparently there was another person in the room ... and one that the wall-climber knew very well.

This individual was slightly taller than him, covered in a tight mechanical armour, similar to his Iron suit. The face was hidden by a mask as black as the night, of which only the white lenses that served as a visual apparatus were visible. He wore a pair of clawed gloves and didn't carry weapons.  
The whole getup was completed by a long purple cloak that reached down to his shoes.

"Prowler!" Peter yelled, pointing to Wilson Fisk's personal right hand and assassin.

"You are perceptive as always", the supervillain retorts impassively.

Caught off guard by the man's comment, the vigilante tried to reply. "Yes? Well, and you ... you're not really all there!"

"Oh, good try. If you had another minute you probably would have thought about a dignified reply", the assassin said, clapping both hands with a mocking.

Then, he turned his attention to his subordinates.  
"Kill him", he ordered coldly.

Suddenly, Peter's spider sense began to vibrate, signalling that one of the men was about to execute the order. But before he could even pull the trigger on his weapon, the superhero had gripped his wrist firmly.

Using only two fingers, he broke the bones that allow the hand to rotate.

The thief let out a heart breaking scream and tried to defend himself with the other hand. But as soon as he leaned over in pain, Peter trimmed an arm upright, swinging him backwards, against one of his companions.  
The other two raised their rifles and pulled the trigger in unison.

With superb skill, the vigilante dodged every blow, made a leap and landed right in front of one of the criminals. A powerful kick in the stomach was enough to send him to hit the opposite wall of the room.

Peter turned to the last henchman, but at that precise moment his spider sense vibrated again.

The wall climber turned, just in time to avoid a punch from Prowler.

The next few seconds became a blur of blows and melee. Left, left, dodge. Left hook, dodged. Right upright, straight to the chin.

Peter bit his tongue as one of the villain's fists caught him in the face. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and before he could recover, a kick in the chest threw him backwards, knocking him against a column.  
Then came a furious assault by the opponent, a veritable grenade of punches.

The boy did his best to parry as much as possible, before grabbing a table lamp and smashing it on Prowler's head.

The villain crashed to the ground, and Peter shot a spider web at him to immobilize him. However, the opponent managed to avoid the blow and get to his feet with a quick somersault, while bullets began to come out of his gloves.

Peter stepped aside just in time and punched the man. He repaid him with the same coin, and the two went on to exchange shots, until the superhero fired another spider web, anticipating the next move of the assassin.

As expected, Prowler pushed aside and the canvas attached to a desk ... but that too was part of the plan.

Peter coiled the sticky thread around his right wrist and yanked the furniture behind him, overturning the objects on it with a tinkling cacophony. The rival turned abruptly to prevent the desk from hitting him, and it was then that Peter used the free hand to wrap his legs with a spider web. Distract and defeat.

Then, the boy dumped a seemingly endless river of web, until the villain found himself trapped in a sort of white cocoon.

"It's over", Peter decreed, looking at the man who was struggling to try to free himself. At the same time, he noticed that the fourth henchman had run away. Patience, he would not have gone too far.

Prowler raised his head, ready to rail against the vigilante ... and stopped, his gaze pointed over the boy's shoulders.

Under the mask, Peter raised an eyebrow.  
He turned to the window. And in that moment, his spider sense exploded.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

A cold September wind blew, and Wanda Maximoff crossed her arms as she let her gaze run over the water of New York Bay.

When she arrived on the beach there were people who walked along the shore, but the clouds had made them move away for some time. Now she was alone.  
The girl looked around.

The ocean, which reflected the colour of the sky, looked like liquid iron, the waves breaking regularly on the shoreline. Heavy clouds slowly descended, and the mist began to thicken, hiding the horizon.

In another place, in another time, she would have felt the greatness of the spectacle that surrounded her, but now, while she was standing there on the sand, she realized that she felt nothing.  
In a way, it was as if she wasn't even there, as if it were all a dream.

And then ... she felt a shiver run through her whole body, with the same intensity of an electric shock.

Everything happened very quickly.  
Suddenly the sky completely clouded over, and gusts of wind raised clouds of dust in the direction of the coast, investing and throwing anyone who tried to take shelter to the ground.

On the sea, on which the twilight of the storm was now looming, violent splashes and huge waves, similar to those of a tsunami, began to rise, and lash the quay.  
A rumble of horses ... The hiss of the raging wind.  
Wanda looked up and saw the whole scene with eyes filled with horror.

At 10 000 feet above the city there was a Boeing 747. Inside there were at least 200 people, including a thirty-seven year old young man returned from a holiday in Germany. He was the first to witness the monster's attack.

The giant aircraft had begun its descent through dense layers of rainy clouds, and would soon land at New York airport.  
Finally, the boy thought. I'm back in America. And that was also his last thought.

He barely turned his gaze to the window ... and saw the immense shadow cross the tail of the plane as if it was made of paper, opening a gash in it.  
Just seconds later, the aircraft began to crash.

It thundered across the Hudson River, as if it was held by the hand of God. A drug addict looked up into an alley and thought he was hallucinating.

The noise of the engines made people rush to the windows, their faces turned upwards like pale flames. The windows rattled and shattered. The waste paper on the streets swirled. A policeman dropped his cigarette and put his hands to his ears, screaming without being able to hear his own voice.

The plane continued to descend. Now it moved over the roofs of houses like a giant bird. The right wing missed the side of the Empire State Building by only three meters.  
Thunder filled the world.  
At the same time, Peter Parker, aka Spiderman, stared in terror at the window of the building where he was staying.

The glittering panorama of the city was gone. The entire bay window was filled by the arriving aircraft.  
The position lights went on and off, and for a moment, a crazy moment of total surprise, horror and disbelief, the superhero could see his mask reflected on the nose of the plane.

Without even taking into account the consequences, he began to run against the opposite wall of the building.  
A few seconds later, the plane hit the building at three quarters of its height. Speeds were slightly above eight hundred kilometres per hour.

The explosion was terrible, it set fire to the sky and rained flames over a distance of twenty blocks, near Times Square.

Peter didn't even have time to dwell on the fact that Prowler and his henchmen were almost certainly dead. He broke through the glass of the building just before the aircraft hit it and used the resulting shock wave to throw his body as far as possible from the centre of the impact.

He fell on the road two hundred meters ahead, using a spider web to cushion the blow. However, he broke several of his bones.  
Around him, people began to scream, in the throes of mass hysteria.

Ignoring the constant whistle that pounded his ears, the boy rolled his eyes and stood as if petrified in front of what he saw.

The great shadow came down like a falling cloud. And it belonged to a winged creature. But it was not a bird, since it was golden and devoid of feathers.  
Was it a demon? None of the humans present had the opportunity to ask, since the flying shadow pointed towards the ground and, finally, folding its wings, it gave a croaking scream that shook the souls of every living being within several kilometres.

A total of three long necks protruded from the monster's stocky body. Each of them supported a small head with reptilian features.  
Each head ended in a pair of sharp horns and was crowned with sharp teeth and blood-red eyes.

The beast landed on the road, causing a loud thud and raising a cloud of debris.

Thick smoke from the dust enveloped the area as the creature's wild roar made its way through. Finally it emerged from the swirls of dust, and every detail of its gruesome appearance was visible.  
It was so large that everyone was forced to look up to the sky to see the top.

The citizens who were in the landing area remained completely still, too frightened to even consider fleeing.

At that moment, a metallic noise lacerated the sky to the northeast, marking the appearance of a hunting formation.  
This was precisely the signal that pushed the various passers to seek shelter. Shortly thereafter, a shower of bullets poured over the entire area, sweeping the dragon's body and tearing apart everything it came into contact with.

Regardless of the objects that were dumped on him, Ghidorah let out a low growl.

Advancing, it knocked down a large deposit with one leg, crushed a railing on the ground and violated the neighbourhood of Times square.

The planes veered, resuming the assault, all while the monster seemed out of its mind because of anger.  
Each time they exhaled furiously, the three heads raised a dust storm as they looked around opening their jaws and continuing to emit horrifying sounds.

People took refuge in the alleys, holding their heads in their hands and curling up on themselves. Then the dragon let out a hiss, just as the fighters began to approach.

The huge mass of his body had begun to tremble visibly and threateningly.  
The golden glow that surrounded it concentrated on the long hills, and they began to radiate an increasingly intense brightness. The jaws opened once more, highlighting obscenely red cavities, and when everyone thought that the creature was about to release another furious roar, the unthinkable happened.

A golden and dazzling ray erupted from the gorges, which illuminated all the surrounding areas and cut Times Square like an incandescent knife.  
Whatever struck immediately caught fire, and in a few moments the whole area turned into a hellish sea of flames.

The planes were too slow and were all pulverized in the fraction of a few seconds. Their remains fell to the ground, destroying the underlying buildings and killing unsuspecting passers-by who had not yet managed to find shelter.

Ghidorah, whose fury showed no sign of disappearing, began to head towards the centre of Times Square, vomiting that penetrating incandescent glow on everything, trampling and demolishing every building in its path.

Through the news and movies, many had seen what a full-power flamethrower was capable of. From that small mouth, similar to that of a normal rifle, a blazing column of fire of at least fifteen meters could be projected, useful to flush out in one fell swoop all the targets stationed inside a building. But the electric glow that erupted from the jaws of that being spread in a few moments a column hundreds of times more powerful than any flamethrower, and its luminous intensity was similar to that of a reflector that cuts through the night sky.

Even members of the police ran everywhere looking for a way out. Behind them, Ghidorah, like a living mountain, crushed all the lower buildings step by step. Any large building was instead torn down by electric beams.

The fire engines of the firefighters began to converge in that direction with sirens unfolded, but the impending presence of the immense beast prevented them from advancing any further. The firemen looked at the helpless scene, amazed by what was happening.

Once at the centre of the square, the dragon stopped suddenly. Quickly standing up to its full height, Ghidorah looked around with eyes far too penetrating to be those of a simple animal.

Regardless of what was happening, the clock bell on the tower across the street rang, as it did every day.  
Ghidorah stared for a few moments at the strange noisy object, so much so that many were glad to have read perplexities deep in its bestial gaze. Then, the right head let out a tremendous howl, and with its teeth it firmly grasped the building.

The head tugged on it until it could break it, then pulled out the remains of the clock and scattered them throughout the area, under the apparently amused gaze of the middle head.

On the terrace of a radio station, an announcer kept shouting into the microphone to inform his listeners. But his tone was desperate, almost a death cry.

"Incredible, absolutely incredible! This absurd event is happening right now, before my eyes. After the creature's passage, the entirety of Times Square has become a sea of flames. No matter where you look, only smoke and rubble are visible! To anyone who is listening to me, I remind you that this is neither a theatre show nor a movie! This is a real event, which is happening right now ..."

He stopped suddenly, when he saw that the left head was pointing directly at him, almost as if it was staring at him.

The man opened his mouth in a silent cry, while the creature smiled with malicious intent.  
It opened its jaws, and prepared another electric beam. However, just before the monster could complete the action, something small jumped on the face of the being, forcing him to stop.

The dragon's eyes focused on the intruder, while the head let out a puzzled grunt.  
The sound attracted the attention of the other two, who began to stare at their brother with slight interest.

Peter tried not to sweat, while mentally repeating that this was perhaps the stupidest idea that had ever occurred to him.

Balancing between the monster's nostrils, he raised his right hand and said: "Bad dragon!"

Then, he fired a web grenade straight into the reptile's eye, which shouted in surprise.  
With an apparently irritated growl, the right head opened its jaws and tried to bite the superhero. He made a leap in mid-air, avoiding the attack and landing on the top of the middle head.

The head jumped up, making him momentarily lose his grip. All while the one on the right resumed the assault with insistence, snapping its strong jaws in mid-air.  
Realizing that it would not last long in that position, Peter sank into the road.

The reptilian-looking head hissed in rage and again opened its mouth bristling with sharp teeth.

The torrent of electricity hit the surrounding area with the intensity of a moving train, lifting pieces of concrete and cars.  
Fortunately for the wall climber, the resulting cloud of dust briefly hid him from the sight of the monster. This was all the boy needed.

Without wasting time, he launched himself into the first building that came within range, hoping with all his heart that the three-headed dragon hadn't noticed him.  
Once he found a spot where he could hide, he scanned the landscape that stood out beyond the entrance to that improvised stronghold.

The sky of the metropolis, which within a few hours had unrecognizably changed, reduced to the shadow of what it had been, was still obscured by the smoke and flames.

Peter quickly looked around, noting that he wasn't alone. There were other people with him, visibly terrified.  
A mother and her children were crouching, without moving in the slightest, near the rear entrance of the building, despite flames coming out of the windows above their heads.

The woman hugged her two children tightly, and whispered, as if praying, among the sparks that poured over them.  
"We are about to reach dad, my little ones ... soon we will see dad", she whispered almost to herself, while her children's little bodies began to tremble.

Peter wanted to get closer, to tell them that everything would work out, that there was nothing to be afraid of. But in that moment ...

"Well, well ... mortal", said a deep voice, forcing the superhero to freeze.

Peter barely looked away and glimpsed the huge middle head of the dragon lowered to street level.**  
**Then the creature seemed to curl both lips in a cruel smile, showing sharp teeth.

"I ssssssmell you. I feel your breath. I sense your fear", the monster hissed, while the boy's heart began to beat a thousand miles an hour.

That beast ... that creature that had brought so much death and destruction in less than half an hour ... had just spoken. It was an intelligent being, with apparently a human-level intelligence.  
It had done all this of its own free will, killing all those people with the knowledge that they would die and that others would suffer.

A wave of anger swept through the superhero's body as the dragon continued to look around with malevolent eyes.

"Where are you, you? Where arrrrrrre you?" he whispered, after taking a couple of sniffs of the surrounding air.

The creature went around the side of the building and reached the point where Peter had entered. It stopped there, while its left head bent towards the ground.

Peter turned to look at the mother and the children. Their faces were tense as they tried to hide in the dim light of the room.

The huge head turned back to form an arch, jaws open, and then stopped near the side windows of the skyscraper. In the flash of lightning, Peter saw the reptile's glittering eye move.  
It was looking straight into the building.

The breath of one of the children was coming out in shrill, terrified sobs. The mother lay down and squeezed his arm, hoping to calm him.  
At the same time, the head continued to look. Then it rose again, out of sight.

"Come on, don't be shy", the middle head said. "Show yourself to the light."

Then, the right head bowed, blocking the boy's view. It moved around the side of the building, to where the family was located.

The beast snorted, a deep deafening roar that mingled with another thunder. It sank its jaws into the wall of the skyscraper and with a shrug it tore off a piece of building.  
The skyscraper trembled as pieces of ceiling fell heavily along the floor of the room.

Peter felt the creature's warm, nauseating breath and a thick tongue infiltrate the room through the hole it had just opened. The protuberance, similar to that of a snake, licked greedily around, then the head raised abruptly.

Peter barely had the courage to peer past his hiding place, and saw the middle head peering at the surroundings with a doubtful glint in his eyes.

"There is something in you ... something different. Something inside you. I can feel it ... crawling through your flesh like an insect", it hissed suddenly, snapping its jaws.

As if from nowhere, an unknown presence seemed to descend on Peter's body, nailing it on the spot.  
Just as it had happened that morning, he felt like a trapped animal. He felt a shiver cross his spine, his muscles, his bones ... as if the creature's words had alarmed something inside him, something primitive and dark.

"I feel it flowing in your veins ... in your blood", the monster continued, purring with sadistic pleasure. "It's hungry. Do you think you can control it?"

Peter swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.

He shot a quick glance in the direction of the family, who now were looking directly at him.  
Taking a few calming breaths, the superhero made a sign to remain silent and slowly moved from the hiding place, passing through the open gash in the side of the building.  
His presence immediately attracted the attention of the three headed monster.

The dragon looked at Peter, leaning its middle head back to stare at him with its large blood-coloured eyes. It moved near the boy and began to peer at him.

"Ah, here you are, mortal! In the shadows", it said with a mischievous smile, while the right head peered at him with malicious intent. At the same time, the one on the left seemed to chuckle, a laugh similar to that of a hyena, and began to observe it from various angles.

"H-hi?" Peter greeted, raising his right hand.

The middle head leaned forward and began to sniff him.

"I've travelled for a long time, but I don't remember ever having smelled your species before", it commented with keen interest. "Who are you, where do you come from? Can I ask?"

The boy swallowed a second time, trying to keep his mind clear despite the absurdity of the whole situation.  
"I ... I am Spiderman", he said after a few seconds of silence.

If possible, the smile on the creature's face seemed to get bigger.

"Spiderman? A really interesting name", it hissed almost to itself, before slightly tilting its head. "And tell me ... Spiderman ... what do you claim to be?"

"I am ... ugh ..." he stopped abruptly, perceiving the stench of death that came from the jaws of being. "I am ... human."

"Ah, humans, yes ... a much more familiar term", the dragon commented, with a decidedly more contemptuous tone of voice."A race of parasites. Worms swarming in the cosmos like flies on dead meat. Convinced of their superiority over other species."

It nodded to itself and went back to scrutinizing the boy carefully.  
"But you ... don't look completely human, or am I wrong?" it asked with that curious glint in its eyes, while the forked tongue of the left head lingered dangerously near his body.

Trying to ignore that action, Peter concentrated on the middle one, which seemed to be the only one in the trio who had the ability to speak. It had to be the leader.

He took a deep breath and said: "Well, no. See, I'm a superhero ..."

"A hero!" the dragon suddenly exclaimed, making him jump.

The middle head burst into loud laughter, being promptly imitated by the one on the left. The one on the right, on the contrary, simply stared at the boy with a stoic air, barely tightening the eyelids of its eyes.

"This is interesting", the monster commented, after that short manifestation of fun.

Peter swallowed a third time and made a couple of coughs.

"And ... er ... who are you? Um ... if I'm not too indiscreet, obviously", he said quickly, not at all eager to infuriate that abomination.

The monster raised an eyebrow and released a scornful snort.  
"This planet must be much more primitive than I thought if the voices of my deeds didn't reach your ears", he stated with a de facto tone.

Then, it spread its immense wings, raising a cloud of dust and debris. Peter had to appeal to much of his strength to avoid being blown away by the sudden draft of air.  
The central head smiled thinly and proclaimed in a loud voice: "I am Ghidorah! King of Exifaculus ... undisputed lord of all that I contemplate. And much that I don't contemplate! Billions of lives are mine, to be pardoned or put out like the flame of a candle. The greatest war machines ever created pay homage to me. I am the closest thing to a supreme being that the universe has ever known since immemorial time!"

"And also very full of itself", Peter muttered with a low voice, attracting the creature's suspicious gaze.

"What did you say?" it asked, with a dangerous tone.

Realizing his mistake, the boy hurried to appease the creature. "Ah, uh, I said that your presentation certainly doesn't do justice to your, uh ... enormity, or might Ghidorah."

"Do you really believe that flattery will keep you alive?" the monster asked, with a background of fun.

Peter's blood froze in his veins.  
"Oh, no, of course not", he said quickly, taking an unconscious step backwards.

"No, indeed" the dragon confirmed, before approaching the slender figure of the superhero. "But I must admit to being, at least in part ... intrigued."

"I-intrigued?" Petr stammered, shivering at the closeness that separated the two.

The creature chuckled once again.

"Oh, absolutely! See, I had never met a hero alive before. I thought they only existed in poetry", it said with sadistic amusement. "Ah, ah, it must be a terrible burden, however, to be a hero. A reaper of glory, a monster slayer! All who keep an eye on you to check if you're still behaving in a heroic way. You certainly know what I'm talking about."

And, as strange as it seemed, Peter knew it well. After all, he had been criticized by the press several times, with many people considering him a threat because of the mere fact that, compared to the other Avengers, his identity still remained a mystery.

Aware of having touched a bare nerve, Ghidorah chuckled satisfied.

"Sooner or later the virgin of the harvest will make a mistake on the haystack. And what inconvenience! Having to stand erect all the time, always use noble language. It must be exhausting in the long run", it commented with an almost condescending tone.

Peter clenched his fists, trying to hide his discomfort.

"But without a doubt, it also gives satisfactions", the dragon hissed, snapping its forked tongue. "The pleasant sensation of immense superiority, the easy successes with the females ... And the joy that comes from knowing himself, that must be a great compensation! The absolute certainty that in any danger, in the face of any adversity, you will not give up, you will behave with the dignity of the hero ... until death takes you back to the weeds."

And then, the huge head pulled back, hoisting itself off the ground and scrutinizing the boy with that malevolent glint in its blood-coloured eyes.

"I'm almost tempted to let you go. To observe how those you care about begin to fade around you. While the people you claim to protect…rebel and lead you to the gallows."

And, even if only for a moment, Peter hoped that Ghidorah would really do it. However, the dragon's subsequent words were sufficient to crush even that faint hope.

"But I won't. Our little game ends here", the beast declared, while the other two heads also smiled with expectation. "So, tell me ... hero. How do you choose to die?"

Peter had a sudden shiver.  
Then, the middle head pushed towards him, with its jaws open.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!**

**Yeah, I really love writing about Ichi, Ni and Kevin destroying things. And yes, the meeting between Ghidorah and Spider-Man is inspired to the meeting between Smaug and Bilbo. **

**The next chapter will have a HUGE fight.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's a new chapter****. I wish you a good read!**

**Don't forget to review ;)**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

In the biology lab on the third floor of Pym Industries, Scott Lang slowly lowered the plastic forceps into the glass cage. Then, with a sharp blow, he immobilized the centipede, grabbing it behind the head.

The arthropod hissed and squealed furiously as Scott reached out, held it tightly behind the threadlike antennae and pulled him up to the vial for milking.

He rubbed the membrane of the vial with an alcohol-soaked swab, plunged the hooked jaws of the animal into it and watched as the yellowish poison dripped into the glass container.  
The collected dose was disappointing, just a few millimetres. He would need half a dozen centipedes to extract enough poison for Hope's studies, but there was no room to accommodate them in the laboratory.

There was a terrarium in San Francisco, but the animals tended to get sick and Hope wanted to have the specimens on hand so she could check their health.  
The poison was easily contaminated by bacteria: for this reason he had disinfected the membrane with alcohol and kept the vial resting on a layer of ice.

Scott's research focused on the bioactivity of certain polypeptides present in the centipede poison and his work was part of a vast project that included snakes, frogs, spiders, and all those animals that produced active neurotoxins.

Scott had just put the centipede back in the cage when a woman entered the lab. She was Hope Lang, Scott's wife and the partner of Ant Man, known as Wasp.

"I see that you don't wear gloves", the brunette observed, with a discontented frown.

"Nope", Scott replied, his face adorned with an impertinent smile. "I've acquired a certain security."

"Lucky you", the woman replied, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "But the last thing I want is to have to drag my husband to the hospital for the bite of a giant centipede... although it would be very fun to tell dad."

The man curled his lips in a pout, as if the words of the woman had really hurt him. She merely rolled her eyes. Scott was certainly a bright minded person, but sometimes he acted just like a child.

"Have you already fed our little friend?" she asked carefully, as she proceeded to put on her lab coat.

Scott glanced quickly at the centipede and grimaced. "Ugh, you know I hate to see that stuff."

"Remind me why", she said, crossing both arms in front of her chest and throwing an amused smile at her companion.

The man shrugged. "It seems so cruel to me."

"Everyone must eat, Scott", Hope replied, pulling out a jar containing some crickets that were still alive. Then, she grabbed a pair of forceps and used them to insert one into the centipede cage.

As soon as the insect landed in the terrarium, the arthropod jumped up and snapped its jaws, waving the antennae. It almost looked like a snake about to attack.

The cricket began to jump from one side of the container to another, while the centipede approached its prey with a furtive step. Once the distance between the two animals was reduced to just a few centimetres, the arthropod leapt forward and sank the hooks into the cricket's belly, injecting copious quantities of poison into its organism.

The insect began to twist and the centipede wrapped it with its coils in a mortal embrace, preventing any attempt to escape. All under Scott's disgusted gaze.

"See, that's exactly why I became a vegetarian."

"Don't you think plants have feelings?" Hope replied, with a mocking tone.

Her husband stared at her impassively and barked a fake laugh.

"Ah, ah, very funny", he muttered with a low voice.

Hope just smiled at him. Then, she stopped in front of a dissection table and started working with the scalpel on a large black beetle.

"What do you have there?" Scott asked, joining his wife and observing the aforementioned animal with extreme attention.

"A bomber beetle", she replied, never taking her eyes off the specimen. "An Australian Pheropsphus that sprays explosively."  
**  
**"And what's so special about it?" the man asked, visibly intrigued. After all, he had already seen Hope work on certain animals, but this species was unfamiliar to him.

The bomber beetles took their name from the fact that they were able to shoot out a jet of hot and harmful fluid, pointing it in all directions, from a sort of rotating turret placed on the end of their abdomen. The fluid was unpleasant enough to keep the toads and birds that would have liked to eat them away and toxic enough to kill the smaller insects instantly.

The modalities of the mechanism had been studied since the early twentieth century and were now known.

"Thanks to certain substances stored in the body ..." the woman explained, "the beetles produce a boiling spray of benzoquinone. They have two pockets in the back of the abdomen: I'm cutting them up now, can you see them? The first bag contains hydroquinone and the oxidant, hydrogen peroxide. The second bag is a rigid reaction chamber containing enzymes, catalysis and oxidase. When attacked, through a muscle, the beetle pours the contents of the first bag into the second, where all the ingredients combine, giving rise to an explosive jet of benzoquinone."

"And this particular beetle?" Scott asked, sitting down next to her.

Hope started to open the animal's chest.

"In its armament there is something more. It also produces a ketone, 2-tridecanone. Ketone has repellent properties, but also acts as a surfactant, a wetting agent that accelerates the spread of benzoquinone. I want to know where it's made, so I can replicate it and use it as a weapon. A bit like with my energy attacks, it could prove very useful in battle."

"Don't you think the beetle makes it?" the man asked, with a contemplative expression.

Hope shrugged and began to cut the lower abdomen. "Not necessarily, no. It could have stored bacteria that could pack the ketone."

Scott nodded sympathetically.  
After all, it happened quite often in nature. Producing chemicals to defend yourself consumed energy, so if an animal could incorporate bacteria that could do the job for you… well, life become even better.

While his wife was busy dissecting the insect, the man pulled his cell phone out of his trouser pocket and started running the news of the day. In a world like theirs, it had become a good way to keep an eye on the potential situations that required their intervention.

After a minute, a very specific service attracted the attention of the superhero.  
He opened the above file ... and was petrified by what the article showed. He was forced to reread it several times, to be sure it wasn't some kind of joke.

"Er… love", he said with a trembling voice, attracting the woman's attention "I think you should see this. And WE should wear the suits immediately!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Shielding with one hand from the glare of the sun, Daisy Johnson, codenamed Quake, put her hazel eyes on the spectacle of the seagull that glided elegantly in the wake of the cruise ship, circling over the aft cargo peak.

Spellbound, she remained for several minutes contemplating the unparalleled grace with which the seabird hovered in flight, until, with sudden impatient motion, she sat up on the shabby deck chair. Without realizing it, the red marks appeared her tanned back, spaced at regular intervals.

She looked around, but there was not even the shadow of the staff on the deck, so she took the opportunity to shamelessly rearrange her bikini and put herself more at ease.  
She had become an Avenger just one year ago, but had worked for the Shield since the first Chitauri invasion in 2012.

From that moment on, she had very few opportunities to enjoy a well-deserved vacation, which is why she was intent on take advantage of this cruise offered by the agency as much as possible, before the next and umpteenth global crisis called her back to the front.

With a happy sigh, she collapsed once more on the deckchair, when ...

**BZZZZZZ**

The communicator she always carried with her began to sound.

It was a device connected to a private channel, which is why she knew exactly who was contacting her. And given that she had warned that person several times not to call her unless the world was on the verge of total catastrophe ... well, let's just say that the woman soon became aware that the day was about to take a somewhat different turn than the one she had initially hoped for.

Daisy grabbed the communicator and raised it to her ear, with a visibly irritated look.

"Phil Coulson, I swear that if this is not the end of the world, I ..."

"I'm sorry to tell you ..." the voice of a man - who according to official Shield records had died in 2012 at the hands of Loki Laufeyson - announced, "But I really think it could be."

* * *

**XXXXX**

* * *

Budapest was certainly not new to the war.

In many centuries of blood, the Hungarian capital had been disputed and occupied by a long series of conquerors - Huns, Goths, Magyars, Turks, Habsburgs, Nazis and Soviets - before obtaining the much desired independence at the end of the twentieth century.

But those simple conflicts that lasted just a few years were very little, compared to the dark timeless war that was fought in the shadows of the city: the war of terrorism. And it was currently catching on a mostly abandoned road, located on the western outskirts of the urban complex.

At the centre of the skirmish there were two very unusual figures.  
The first belonged to a tall, well-placed man with prominent musculature and long brown hair that reached his shoulders. Distinctive feature was the right arm, metallic and shining under the rays of the afternoon sun, irrefutable symbol of his identity: Bucky Barnes, the White Wolf, former Hydra agent known as the Winter Soldier.

Next to him was a black man slightly lower than him, wearing a thick crimson armour, the back of which was adorned by the presence of a pair of wings covered in Kevlar and hardened steel.  
He was one of the first Avengers who took their place in the team after the Ultron crisis that took place in the now distant 2014: Sam Wilson, aka Falcon.

Under the sound of the blows, the renowned superhero heard some men barking orders.

He took up his arms and jumped in mid-air, the mechanical wings spreading like those of an eagle. The automatic pistols each fired two, four, six, eight shots before he hit the ground in the space that had opened up among the enemies.

With a quick kick he split the jaws of two opponents. A rotating kick caused three more to fall to the ground.

A few meters from him, Bucky rearranged the guns in his holsters, brought his metal arm to his back and grabbed two batons. One click of each wrist and they stretched sixty centimetres.

He began to shatter the terrorists' heads with swift and ruthless efficiency.  
The weapons began to rotate, now pervaded by a bluish glow. Every time they came into contact with a body, this was crossed by a strong discharge of volts, not strong enough to kill a person but still powerful enough to prevent him from getting up.

The man rolled behind a pile of concrete, quickly followed by his companion.

"How the hell did we end up in this situation?!" Sam yelled, receiving a visibly irritated look from the ex Hydra agent.

"We ended up in it because you blew our cover!"

"They were about to shoot the hostage!"

"And now they are shooting at us!" Bucky retorted, briefly indicating the surrounding area.

Beside him, the superhero found himself unable to argue.

"I consider it a victory", he muttered bitterly.

At that precise moment, a loud explosion echoed behind them, raising pieces of dirt and dust.

Bucky stared at him sharply.

"... Ok, maybe it could have been better", Sam admitted, while his companion started shooting again with a: "No, really?!"

The situation was now desperate. Both men knew well that they would not last long without the arrival of reinforcements, but the intervention of the US military could have caused a diplomatic incident. They were alone ... and with their backs to the wall.

Suddenly, the communicator that Sam wore on his belt began to flash, signalling that a call was received.

With a soft growl, the man grabbed the device and brought it to his mouth.

"We are a little busy right now!" he shouted through the cacophony of the shots, while a bullet passed him just a few millimetres from the head.

"Finish what you're doing and go back to the base", a female voice ordered from the other end of the line.

For a moment, Sam thought he had heard wrong. "Which part of 'busy' did you not understand?!"

"The covering fire is coming", the voice replied coldly, surprising the superhero.

He turned his attention to Bucky, who in turn seemed rather perplexed.

"What covering fire?" Sam asked. The answer was not long in coming.

They heard it coming: a growing moan that came from the west side of the sky, an mmmmm that grew to become an MMMMM in the space of a few seconds.  
Something small and very fast was falling from the sky. Suspended in the air remained spirals of white smoke that came out from the back. It almost looked like a miniature jet.

Then, something crashed loudly in the neighbourhood, undermining pieces of the street and terrorists.  
Within seconds, the drone dropped another four short-range bombs, annihilating all opposition in such a short time that even Bucky found himself unable to hold back his admiration for that small and lethal thing.

" ... I want one", Sam said, after a moment of silence. The White Wolf was thinking the exact same thing.

The man slowly emerged from the hiding place, the rifle always pointed in the direction of the enemy area. He squared the whole place with eyes far too careful for those of a simple human being and, after finding that his opponents had been completely annihilated by the attack, he motioned to his companion to abandon the cover.

He let out a sigh of relief and began to stretch his legs.

After this, he grabbed the communicator once more.

"So, what's the problem?"

"I think it will be better to discuss it once you're both here", the voice answered.

"Big stuff?" Bucky asked with a tone full of anticipation.

The voice seemed to hesitate for a few moments. "Oh, believe me ... it's definitely VERY big."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**New York**

Ghidorah pushed forward towards the figure of Peter, with its jaws open.  
However, just before the monster's jaws could savour the vigilante's flesh, a golden blur hit the beast on its side, sending it crashing into the nearest skyscraper.

The impact rang throughout the city as the building collapsed to the ground and poured shards and debris into the square like falling rain.

With his heart still beating a thousand miles an hour, Peter managed to focus on the identity of his saviour.  
In front of him, now there was Carol, wrapped in a bright and warm dazzling light.

She had her back turned on him and had her gaze fixed on the great dragon lying on the ground.

"You know ... this thing of the rescue at the last minute is becoming repetitive", the wall climber commented, while walking up to the blonde.

He turned his head towards Ghidorah, who had begun to shake off the pieces of building from its body. "It is quite strong, better to take advantage of this moment to ..."

"Take the civilians and get out of here", she interrupted him, silencing him instantly. "I'll take care of it."

"Yes ... listen ..." the vigilante said, with a voice that oozed insecurity and fear for the life of the woman he loved. "I know that you're powerful, but believe me, this guy may be too much even for you. When I found myself in front of it ... well, my sense of spider sense went completely crazy! I've never felt anything like this, not even in the presence of Thanos."

"Peter, please ... go, before it gets up", the heroine continued, giving him a quick glance. "Don't make me repeat it again."

Spiderman hesitated for a few moments, but in the end he decided to listen to her. It was never a good idea to challenge her when she used that tone.  
He returned to the building he had used as a refuge a few minutes earlier and firmly grasped the mother and her children.

Once outside, he briefly turned his gaze to Carol.

He would have liked to fight alongside her, but he knew he would be more of a burden than a real help. Internally, he cursed himself for not being strong enough to sustain such a fight.

During the civil war…he was useless. Against Thanos …he couldn't save Mr Stark. And now the situation had not changed. Tony was dead and he remained the usual boy who couldn't do anything without the help of more powerful people.  
But that was certainly not the time to mourn, not when there were still so many people in need of assistance. So, he took the woman and her children with him, shot a spider's web and vanished far away, leaving Carol behind.

Meanwhile, Ghidorah had risen from the ground, apparently unaffected by the power of the previous blow.

The three heads looked the new threat with bold interest, in silence.

Probably, an art lover would have had no problem comparing that scene to a living representation of Saint George and the Dragon.  
**  
**"Who are you, who dare to stand against me?" the middle head asked, with amazement mixed with fun.

"Captain Marvel, protector of the Universe", Carol replied, hovering in flight and stopping in front of the creature's blood-coloured eyes.

Ghidorah just scrutinized her.  
"Protector of the Universe? Such presumptuous title, if you allow me", it said after a careful analysis. At the same time, the left head burst into hysterical laughter, almost as if it found the whole concept rather hilarious.

The dragon flattened the body like that of a snake and took some steps forward.

"And tell me, that mortal with whom I had the pleasure of conversing a little while ago ... is he perhaps an acquaintance of yours?" it asked briefly, indicating the point where Spiderman had vanished.

Carol clenched her hands in clenched fists, but managed to keep her anger in check.

"We are part of the same team, the Avengers", she replied coldly. "Maybe you've heard of us."

After all, Thanos' defeat had made headlines across the galaxy, making the superhero gang quite famous in most inhabited worlds.  
Ghidorah's face, however, showed nothing but simple curiosity.

"Avengers? I don't remember ever hearing this name before, but I find it high-sounding and solemn", he commented, apparently enraptured by the woman's words.  
Then, the dragon's smile became much more predatory.

"Confronting you could prove to be an illuminating experience."

"Do you want to test me?" Carol retorted, taking a defensive position. "Come and get me, monster. I will make you regret having set foot on this planet."

"Ah, such a temper! I really hope you can meet my expectations", the beast said, caught by an insane euphoria for the power proclaimed by the superheroine.

Was what she claimed to be true? The ancient beast couldn't have known for sure, but it was anxious to test her.

With that thought in mind, the creature opened its jaws, revealing a reddish glow that slowly began to make its way from the bottom of its throat. The gizzard placed under the neck also began to take on a colour close to golden yellow, while the air around the beast became hot and suffocating.

Carol wasted no time and threw herself against it, hitting the monster in the stomach and throwing it on the ground, lifting part of the road surface.  
Ghidorah got up immediately, and the left head tried to bite the woman. Carol was quick to dodge the blow and to counterattack with a ray of cosmic energy.

The right head moved slightly to avoid the bullet and took the opportunity to try to devour her. To the hydra's slight surprise, however, Carol blocked its jaws in mid-air before they could close on her. Then, she hit the dragon's muzzle with a powerful punch, moving it a few meters away.

The colossus was heavy, even for her, but she didn't give up and attacked again with all her might.  
She punched Ghidorah's middle head, sending it back to the ground.

The three-headed monster rose with an annoyed growl, and its necks lit up again with that golden glow. A few seconds later, a total of three electric beams came out of its mouths and condensed into a single attack.

Not at all intimidated by that imminent blow, the woman spread her arms and just cashed it. The action greatly surprised the huge beast, which showed its shock through a slight widening of its eyes.

Meanwhile, Carol used her innate power to absorb the energy of the beams. Then she moved her hands forward.  
The result was an attack so strong that, as it passed, the spectators trapped in the crossfire could feel the heat wave dig into the surface of their skins.

This time, to repel it, Ghidorah was forced to conjure up out of nowhere a glittering electromagnetic shield that sprang directly from his wings.  
The projectile of light didn't cause visible damage to the protection, but drew a deafening peal, very similar to a gong.

Another set of electric beams sprang from the jaws of the beast.

Carol made a quick twirl on herself, avoiding the rays. Then the right head jerked back, moving forward in imitation of a whip.

A long thin flame started from his mouth and began to attract any metal object present in the surrounding area, like a magnet. Shortly thereafter, the hoard of cars, trucks and road signs flew in the opponent's direction.

Carol held out both hands in an almost prayer way and spread them out as if to push back the huge scrap ball. In fact, the resulting surge of energy was powerful enough to turn the oversized projectiles to ashes, scattering the remains throughout the neighbourhood.

Ghidorah smiled excitedly and prepared to fire back again, while Carol did the same.  
The explosion felt like a hundred of cannon shots and the golden flames that erupted between them, in the exact centre of the square, marked the point where the attacks met.

Soon, the gold threads that united the dragon and the superheroine fell apart.

The monster's heads and the woman's hands remained united, while a hundred rays drew arches above their bodies, until the two found themselves enclosed within a gold net, a cage of pure static electricity, beyond which anything seemed to dissolve into the darkness caused by the hurricane.

Carol's hands began to vibrate more intensely than ever ... and the beam between her and Ghidorah also changed.  
It was as if large spurts of light slid up and down the incandescent wire that united them, lifting pieces of the road, destroying the abandoned transports and scratching the buildings.

Carol gasped as the dragon increased the intensity of each attack. Now the beam moved towards her, away from the opponent.

As the beams approached her body, her fingers began to get warmer and the woman feared that soon they would start to catch fire.  
With that thought in mind, she concentrated every single particle of her body on the effort to drive the rays back, towards Ghidorah, her ears invaded by a hellish trill, her eyes burning, fixed on the opponent.

She made a quick movement with her back, pushing both attacks towards each other.

An explosion of energy echoed throughout the area, while both rays shattered in the sky, illuminating the darkness that hovered over the metropolis.

Carol shot into the sky and rose in a circle above the beast. Ghidorah followed her with an evil gaze, with the heads that rocked on the long hills.

The woman narrowed her eyes and plummeted just as the hydra opened its mouths once again. Carol avoided the graviton beams, but the tip of the tail lashed up to intercept her and, while she was deviating to the left, one of the long spikes scratched her back, tearing off part of her suit.

The superheroine felt an intense burning, but the wound did not seem too deep. She darted around the dragon's back and fired another beam of energy into the creature's chest.

Ghidorah stepped back and slammed violently against a building, causing it to collapse on itself.

The resulting cloud of debris enveloped the entire area in the darkness, temporarily hiding the figure of the hydra from the sight of the woman.

"Was it enough for you, monster?" she asked, curling both lips in a victorious smile. However, that feeling of triumph was very short-lived.

The smoke cleared, and a completely unharmed Ghidorah appeared from it.  
Internally, Carol was really surprised. Five years ago, an attack of this magnitude had been more than enough to open a hole in Thanos' flagship, yet ... the creature had cashed it as if nothing had happened.

The middle head smiled amusedly.

"Tell me something ... woman. Do you really consider yourself worthy of your title? To me… you seem just a foolish girl full of herself. I only used a third of my power, but if that really was your best shot ... let me show you mine!" he exclaimed, spreading both wings.

These lit up and, before Carol could do anything to defend herself, before she could even move, she was struck by numerous electrical discharges that leaked from the tip of each phalanx. And she felt pain.  
It was a pain beyond anything the young woman had ever experienced. Even the bones seemed to be on fire.

Her head was about to split, while her eyes rolled out of her sockets.  
She wanted it to end ... she wanted to die. And then ... everything passed.

The woman fell to the ground and struggled to her feet, while Ghdiorah's heads smiled in unison.

"Do you like it?" the middle one asked, leaning forward. "I don't use this attack very often, you should feel honoured. It's called Agonia Beam, and it directly stimulates the nerve pain receptors, right down to the last. Imagine the worst pain you've ever experienced in your life, multiplied a thousand times. Now imagine that it will continue ... Forever"

At that moment, the creature's smile seemed to get bigger.

"Oh, it's true ... you don't need to imagine it", it declared with a de facto tone.

And then, another series of shocks came out of the monster's wings, wrapping Carol's body like a net.

The woman began to scream. It was too painful even for her.  
Those electric discharges were impossible to absorb even with her power. They threw her to the ground, affecting her nervous system, causing her to swear in agony of spasms.

For the first time in her life she wanted to ask for mercy ... but Ghidorah showed no mercy to anyone.

When the electric torture ended, the dragon moved forward and began to crush her under the weight of its mighty legs. It stepped on her over and over again, as if she was nothing but an insect.

The woman's bones began to break like crystals, the organs gave way, losing blood, and the senses began to fade.

The dragon repeated the work at least five times. However, despite the state she was in, the superheroine still managed to get up, albeit with difficulty.

Ghidorah laughed at that futile act of defiance.

Its left head snapped towards her, sinking its front fangs into her shoulder and making her scream with all the breath she had in her throat. The woman had now lost the use of her right arm and her cry of pain echoed throughout New York.

Spider-Man's sense warned him, and turned to the origin of that guttural and ghostly plea for help.

Five hundred meters from the vigilante, Carol was on the ground.

The smell of asphalt filled her nostrils. She felt the cold hard ground under her cheek and the brain pressing against her temples. Every inch of her body hurt, and the spot where Ghidorah had bitten her was like a bruise left by an iron fist.

She knelt down and looked up slowly, finding herself in front of a rather singular scene: the dragon's left head began to spit, as if having tasted her flesh had brought it the greatest of sorrows. It was deliberately humiliating her, comparing her to simple filth.  
**  
**"Your taste is disgusting, woman, as much as your ego", the middle one commented. "You didn't give me the slightest stimulus. And now ... die like the pathetic insect you are!"

Ghidorah opened its jaws again, preparing to hit her once more with its beams.  
Unable to move, the heroine known as Captain Marvel closed her eyes ... and waited for the inevitable end.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!**

**Yeah, Carol is not doing well...don't kill me, please! ****Don't forget that Ghidorah is a destroyer of worlds, it's very powerful. VERY powerful.  
Carol can absorb Ghidorah's electric beams because they are made of energy, but not the agonia beams ( it's from Mothra 3, but the name is espired by a Darkseid's attack ) ****because they directly stimulates the nerves.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's a new chapter****. I'll tell this one last time: there will be NO other kaiju in this story! No Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan...only Ghidorah!  
This is an Avengers vs Ghidorah story. I already now where I'm going. **

**I wish you a good read!**

**Don't forget to review ;)**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

The little sleep that Clint Barton managed to allow himself was irregular, and interrupted by a series of nightmares.  
In one he held the slender figure of Natasha in his arms, and before dying the woman said "let me go."

He woke up at half-past four, knowing perfectly well that he would never be able to fall asleep again.

He had the impression that he had entered an absolutely unsuspected plane of existence, and it was said that everyone felt similar sensations in the middle of the night. That was enough for him to persuade himself to get up and go to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Laura slept as usual, with the tucked blankets that transformed her into an indistinct mass, with a tuft of hair peeking from the top. There were no grey threads in her hair, but sooner or later they would come, as was happening to him.

It wasn't a bad thing. The passage of time was a mystery, but an absolutely normal mystery.

The blow of the air conditioner had dropped some of the sheets Laura had printed for a fundraiser on the floor. He put them back on the nightstand, took his jeans, decided to put them on for another day and went to the window, holding them under one arm.

The first light of the grey dawn was beginning to creep into the darkness. It was going to be a warm day.

He put on his pants and a Led Zeppelin shirt, checked once again that Laura was asleep and left the room, with the old worn moccasins that he used as shoes hanging on two fingers of his left hand.

He went out, and followed the wooded path that bordered the street, until he reached the village cemetery.  
He pulled over to the edge of a small slope, went down and stood to contemplate the grave that the mourners - and the emotion-hunters who pretended to be grieving - had tried to transform into a sanctuary.

There were many glittering cards on which words like pain and heaven predominated. There were balloons, some half-deflated, others recently brought. There was a statue of the Madonna, which some prankster had decorated with a moustache.

There was also a teddy bear. Its plump brown body was covered in mould.

"Natasha Romanoff", proclaimed the inscription engraved on the mausoleum. "Friend, partner, heroine ... Avenger".

Today was the anniversary of her death, often overshadowed by Tony Stark's. But it never bothered him. After all, he was well aware that Natasha was a simple person, and wouldn't have appreciated a parade in her honour.

That thought managed to make him smile, even if only for a short time.

He returned to the house about a couple of hours later, heading straight to the kitchen. Waiting for him was a rather elderly man, probably no less than seventy years old, with short silver hair pulled back. He was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a light brown jacket.

As he came, the person turned, his face cautious and alert, revealing the features of Steve Rogers. Captain America, the first Avenger ... precursor to the golden age of superheroes. A man who had marked the history of humanity, now reduced to old age, a relic of times gone by.

As soon as the man's blue eyes landed on Clint's figure, the super-soldier curled his lips into a little smile.

The archer responded to the gesture and saw some cups placed on an old coca cola tray. Even his face lit up in a beaming smile.

"Is that what I hope for?" he asked with a tone full of anticipation.

Steve barked a laugh.  
"Yes, if you hoped for a coffee. I take it black, but I brought everything I needed. My wife took it white and sweet. Like me, or at least it was what she said."

"It's okay for me too", Clint answered, taking a cup and bringing it to his lips.

Meanwhile, Steve set the tray down on the kitchen table. The archer sat in front of him, crossing his legs and continuing to enjoy the steaming drink.

"There's nothing better than a strong black coffee in the morning to start a day."

Steve nodded in agreement and, after taking a couple of sips from his cup, he stared at the ex-teammate with a raised eyebrow. "Have you been awake for a long time?"

"I don't sleep much", the man said, thus avoiding to answer the question. "And this place is great. The air is clean."

"Maybe I should move. Where I live now, you can feel the smell of the new refineries, and it always gives me a headache", the ex Avenger muttered with a disgruntled grimace.

They spent a couple of minutes in total silence, accompanied only by the smell of coffee. Then, when that short span of time came to an end, Steve turned his attention back to Clint.

"Have you already gone to visit her?" he asked with a background of melancholy, receiving a shrug by the archer.

"I was awake and with nothing else to do, I thought I'd take advantage of it."

"I understand. Will we follow the usual stage today?"  
**  
**Clint gave him a mocking smile.  
"Are you sure you can handle it, old man?" he asked with amusement.

Steve released a loud snort.  
"I fought an alien army, boy. In comparison, the spirits tour will seem like a visit to the SHIELD spa", he commented with a self-deprecating grin.

By now, both for him and for Clint, it had become an annual habit to go to every bar in the town and get drunk to commemorate the death of Natasha and all those who had lost their lives during the battle with Thanos. An unusual tradition, but in their hearts they knew that their fallen companions would have found it fun. Except for Vision, he would have only find it bizarre.

"Can I join you?" came a voice behind the duo, forcing them to turn around. It was Laura, with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Clint motioned her to sit down.

"I'm so sorry if we woke you up", he said apologetically.

"You were quieter than usual", she replied, with an impertinent smile. "But you still have a long way to go. I could also have fallen asleep again, but I felt the smell of coffee, and I couldn't resist."

Having said that, she kissed her husband on the cheek and walked to the TV in the living room, which bordered directly on the kitchen.

"Will you remain for the President's speech?" she asked while fumbling with the channels.

Steve barked another laugh, making a mocking military salute.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything the world", he stated with a more pompous voice, making both the woman and Clint chuckle.

Meanwhile, Laura had finally found the station that broadcast the news of the day. She turned up the volume ... and she froze.

"Oh my God", she whispered incredulously, raising a hand to her mouth and attracting the attention of her husband.

He rushed quickly to her, followed by Steve.  
What they saw, once their eyes landed on the TV screen, was a scene that would remain forever etched in their memories.

_"I ... I don't really know how to describe the horror that hit New York just half an hour ago!"_ a female voice exclaimed._ "This ... creature has come out of nowhere, destroying whatever was in its path. The Avenger known as Captain Marvel attempted to fight it, but her efforts to curb its advance were worthless. The monster…was able to beat her. This is not a joke, ladies and gentlemen! Maybe we are about to witness the tragic death of an Avenger ..."_

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

30 minutes before

Jessica Jones let out a sigh, leaning against a lamppost, down the street where she had lived for six years.

Typical New York buildings: grey, square, as far as possible from the beauty you could imagine. She had often dreamed, perhaps after particularly stressful days, of leaving. Moving to some fascinating city: Los Angeles, for example, which she had always liked, or perhaps something in Europe. London, maybe.

But New York was her city. With all its flaws, dirt, traffic, horrible weather ... she couldn't get away from it. Nor was she able to get away from that street corner, in front of the building where she had lived her last five years of life.

Every day she had walked that sidewalk to the nearest bar. Every night she came home, usually tired, with a headache.  
Every day, every night. Repeating that she wasn't like everyone else stuck in the same mechanism. Until she died in the snap ... and then came back to life.

Today was the anniversary of that event, not just for her, but for at least another 3.5 billion people. And like every year, she would have spent the above day getting drunk in her favourite bar.

Taking care that no cars passed, the woman walked to the other side of the road, and after another hundred meters she reached the designated place.  
Then she pulled out a wallet very unsuitable for one of her age and paid the entrance to the girl leaning on the ticket counter.

Without getting lost in chatter, she stamped the back of her hand and looked at her puzzled, probably after recognizing her from some television service. She was certainly not as famous as the Avengers, but she was still one of the most well-known superhumans in America, and among the slums of New York she was considered a sort of celebrity, even if the term 'urban legend' perhaps suited her more.

She went up the stairs lined with posters of old band concerts with incomprehensible names, hardly legible under the blood light, to the landing where a group of boys lined up to enter.  
When it was her turn, she showed a dark stamp to the bouncer.

Jessica pushed aside the heavy black curtain beyond which all the other waiting customers had disappeared and, with a handful, she pushed open the metal door just beyond, sending it crashing into the wall.

And a wall of sound swept over her.

It was a dimly lit room. On the left the bar counter crowded with customers with mugs of beer, on the right an empty stage. It was like being hit by a train of sensations, too strong and all together.

She passed the black sofas on which drunks and sweethearts were sprawled and slipped into another door, which emerged in a corridor. She went through it all and entered the bar area adjacent to the disco.

The room was immersed in the half-light and almost completely deserted, one of the reasons why she often went never liked crowded places. In addition, it was cheap, and for a private detective like her…well, it was ideal.

Finally there was the icing on the cake: the smell of that place was stale beer, which she considered the best in the world.

The bartender, John Barrow, greeted her with a smile, saying: "I was waiting for you, Jessica. I can offer you a hamburger, or maybe ..."

"I would like a Bloody Mary", the detective interrupted him. "Double. Water aside."

"Do you always drink like a man?" a young boy sitting in front of the counter asked. He was brown, with deep brown eyes, and dressed in a rather scruffy way: black leather jacket and tight jeans, very similar to her.

"Usually from a glass", the woman replied, with little consistency.

She would have liked to argue with a more witty answer, but she felt very tired ... and deeply distressed, because of that damned day. The sensation of turning into dust, while life slipped from her body ... still tormented her.

She walked to one of the stools placed in front of the counter and felt even more reassured when she had half the contents of the glass in her body.

"I hope you will excuse me", the young man said, next to her. "I assure you that I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to talk with someone."

"It's my fault", Jessica minimized. "I just hate this fucking day."

She drained her glass and sighed.

"Do you want another one?" John asked, his face adorned with a sympathetic smile.

The woman was about to accept the offer ... and stopped. And the bartender and his drinking buddy also straightened up suddenly.

The glasses and bottles in the room began to tremble, accompanied by a high-pitched whistle that managed to get past the disco cacophony.

The woman barely had time to wonder what it was. And then, the titanic shock ripped through the entire building, lifting tables and chairs, turning off the lights in the room and causing all people in the immediate vicinity to fall to the ground.

At first Jessica thought it was an earthquake, but when no more shock came, she began to consider the possibility that a bomb had fallen. Then, something caught the detective's attention.

She heard a slight crunch followed by some peals.

She looked up at the ceiling, and what she saw took her breath away. She looked at a specific point on the roof, where it had gone to create a gash in the marble that held the bulkheads of the room.

Evidently the shock had been stronger than she initially thought.

Jessica narrowed her eyes and heard the crunch again. The crack formed after the impact began to branch all over the ceiling and reached the opposite end of the walls.  
As the ravine increased, bits of rock and marble spilled onto the floor followed, this time, by a shrill and prolonged sound. Then, the young woman had a revelation**:** it was about to collapse!

She didn't even have time to get up. The 10-ton block gave way under its own weight and began to plummet down the walls of the building, carving them like butter.  
Without wasting time, Jessica launched herself against the young man who was next to her, with only one thought in mind: to save him.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Despite her closed eyes, Carol still managed to see the world around her go from black to yellow in a fraction of a second, while she felt the heat of the impending blow dig into her skin like a knife.

She heard the echo of thunder, followed by the unmistakable buzz of lightning ... but nothing happened.

The air began to flow over her body with greater intensity, becoming colder, while the Avenger realized that something was holding her up.

She opened her eyes hesitantly, finding herself in Spiderman's arms.

Behind them, Ghidorah's attack exploded into the ground with the same intensity as a bomb dropped from several kilometres high, raising a dense column of smoke and debris.

The woman looked up at Peter, who began to hover from one skyscraper to another like a dragonfly.

"You ..." she whispered weakly, despite the pain she felt in her sternum. "I told you to leave."

"Luckily I decided to ignore you", the companion replied cheerfully, even if Carol managed to perceive a background of concern.

She curled both lips into a resigned smile.  
"You are really a fool", she said with all the affection she was capable of in that situation, before coughing up a trickle of blood.

The vigilante's grip instinctively became firmer and reassuring. "I have to take you straight to the hospital ... Oh my God!"

The spider's sense began to vibrate.  
Peter made a rapid rotation on himself, firing a spider web and avoiding just in time an electric beam that pass a few centimetres from his body, so close as to burn part of his costume.

The boy quickly turned his gaze to Gidorah's immense figure.  
The beam was fired by the right head, whose eyes were lit by a furious glint.

As the pair of superheroes moved further away, it dilated its jaws once more, ready to release a second attack. However, just before it could do that ...

"Let them go", the middle head imperiously ordered, forcing the companion to stop abruptly.

The right head gave to its leader a visibly annoyed look, baring its teeth in a grotesque growl. The middle head, however, merely narrowed its eyes threateningly, which prompted the challenger to backtrack. All under the amused expression of the left head.

"They pose no threat to us. They are only infants", the middle one declared, with an impassive tone.

Then, it raised its neck and began to sniff the surrounding area, as if it was trying to locate something. After about a good minute, it seemed to find it.  
The three heads pointed in unison towards a specific destination, starting to advance with a slow and marked step and breaking down every building that was in their path, as if they were nothing but castles made of cards.

Ghidorah went on, until he found itself in front of a house with shabby and neglected features.

A bizarre figure stood on the roof covered with rusty tiles: an apparently middle-aged man, with thick black hair complete with a beard with a goatee, wearing oriental sky-blue clothes, and a long red cloak behind him.

Ghidorah took another quick sniff and smiled smugly.

"Well... this is a surprise", the middle head commented, scrutinizing carefully that unusual individual. "It was a long time since I met a member of your race. You stink of magic and fear, sorcerer."

In response to that statement, Stephen Strange merely tightened both eyelids.  
"You don't belong to this world", he said with a de facto tone, trying to keep a clear mind.

_"Come on, Stephen, it's not your first rodeo",_ he whispered to himself, thinking back to the time he had come face to face with Dormammu. And he was dead ... many times. So many times he lost count.  
Maybe it had happened hundreds of times ... or maybe thousands. He couldn't remember it. He only remembered the pain of each of those deaths.  
But this time he didn't have a Time Stone that would help him. This time, if he died here, right on this roof ... it would have been the last.

In front of him, the dragon chuckled, apparently amused.

"A very witty remark", it said with dark irony, while the Avenger took a few calming breaths. God, he could feel the smell of death and blood coming out of that being's mouth. And it was disgusting.

"Declare the purpose of your visit", he said after a moment of silence, mentally congratulating himself for keeping a firm voice.

Ghidorah's various heads curled their lips in a chilling smile.

"Feasting", the middle one answered, which pushed the man to raise an eyebrow.

"With what?" he asked puzzled.

The grin on the monster's face, if possible, seemed to be more frightening.

"With you", the beast replied. And at that moment, a shiver ran through Strange's body.

"With them", the dragon continued, briefly pointing the muzzle towards a group of people looking for some form of shelter.

Then, Ghidorah shrugged.  
"A little 'of that ... a little of that other ... With all this", It said spreading both its immense wings, and raising a cloud of dust.

Stephen tried not to dwell on the fact that that action had made the dragon seem even bigger than it had appeared at a first glance, and he attempted a disarming smile.

"It could remain on your stomach", he commented with a tone apparently not impressed.

Upon hearing these words, Ghidorah barked a laugh that echoed the length of the neighbourhood and beyond.

"Maybe you're right. After all, it's the first time I've visited a planet with such a residual amount of energy", it said with a snap of its jaws.

Noticing the confused expression on the Avenger's face, the monster decided to elaborate.

"This world has so many champions to protect it, yet its inhabitants are ... primitive at best. Probably I would never have noticed it, if it hadn't been for that anomaly."

"Anomaly?" Strange asked, his tone of voice adorned with a slight hint of curiosity.

The middle head nodded in confirmation, while the left one stared at the man with an unnerving smile.  
"Judging from the rotation speed of this planet, it happened about five solar cycles ago", the monster confirmed. "I was wandering in the void, when I perceived a change in the song of the cosmos. It was quick and sudden ... like a snap."

Time seemed to stop. An inexorable silence seemed to fall on the house, like the shadow cast by a phantom hand.

Strange's eyes widened like plates, while memories of what had happened five years ago rang in his mind in the form of apparently disconnected images and distorted screams. The day when two people had used the power of all the Infinity Stones simultaneously.

Was it really the energy released by those events that attracted this abomination to Earth? It was a possibility that shouldn't be excluded.

"We followed the anomaly, until we found ourselves on this… 'Earth', if I'm not mistaken. A rather unusual name", Ghidorah commented, remembering the words of Captain Marvel.

Strange made a couple of coughs.

"And what brings you in front of the walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum?" he asked with a tone full of expectations.

The middle head lowered, staring the man straight in the eyes. And, even if only for a moment, the sorcerer felt lost in those pits of death and blood that it had as orbits.

"An excellent question. You see, when I landed I found an energy signature very similar to that produced by the anomaly, but much more intense and concrete. It was that energy that led me in front of your home", the monster explained, its face adorned by that apparently timeless smile.

Upon hearing these words, Strange began to sweat cold. Now he knew exactly the reason for this unexpected visit ... one that, if it came to light, would have alarmed every single person on the planet.  
In spite of what the American government thought, in fact, Steve Rogers had failed to return all the Infinity Stones to their place of origin. The Soul Stone, in fact, could not be returned to Vormir, the planet from which it was taken, due to the special circumstances used for its convocation.

Aware of the fact that he couldn't have left it unattended, with the possibility of it being used again to perform deplorable actions, the man had kept the artefact for the last 50 years, until he had passed it into Strange's hands, aware that he was too old now to guarantee its safety.  
The sorcerer had agreed to preserve the ex-soldier's burden, and had hidden the powerful object within the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Ghidorah's smile seemed to get bigger.

"Well, well. An Infinity Stone ... here? What an unexpected wonder", the monster hissed cheerfully.

Strange jumped and instantly strengthened his mental shields.

_"Damn!" _he shouted to himself. He hadn't considered the possibility that this creature could read the thoughts of others. He had been stupid and careless, and now that abomination was aware of the position of one of the most powerful objects in the entire universe.

"Stay out of my head", he hissed through clenched teeth, arousing a warning look from the dragon.

"Do you think you have any claim on me, magician? On me, Death itself?!"

"You're certainly not the first to call yourself something like that", the man replied coldly.

Ghidorah tightened both eyelids.  
"But I'm the only one able to sustain such a title." It said with a snarl, to then spread the immense wings a second time.

"I am Ghidorah! I slaughtered the one who gave birth to me, who forced me into this hell called life. The trail of my past is painted with the blood of both my enemies and allies", it proclaimed loudly, while lightning and thunderbolts began to resonate in the area. "Death is with me every second of the day! Every moment of my life is spent in facing death or spreading it in the universe! So tell me ... who under the stars is more suitable than me to be the earthly incarnation of Death?"

Despite that presentation, however, Strange simply stared at the creature with disgust.

"Your words don't deceive me, demon. I know what you are", he said with newfound confidence, which surprised the three headed monster.

"And what am I, sorcerer?" it asked rhetorically.

The wizard released a loud snort.  
"You are exactly like the others, only amplified. The same breed of monsters that I've been chasing in the last five years. An evil and despicable being ... a supernatural piece of shit", he continued with an ironic smile, while Ghidorah's eyes filled with anger. "Do you want to know what is the only difference between you and them? It's the size of your ego."

"And with that conviction you'll say goodbye to this life", the middle head hissed angrily, while the one on the right released a grotesque snarl, as if it was dying to stick its teeth into the flesh of the man. At the same time, the left head barked a high laugh, while the leader lowered further and opened its jaws wide.

"Now tell me ...fool. How are you going to challenge me now?" it asked with a mocking tone.

And the answer was not long in coming.

"Wong, now!" Strange shouted, with all the breath he had in his body.

It all happened in a matter of seconds.  
Wong's figure came out of a building just behind Ghidorah. The left head barely had time to turn, while the man spread his arms, closed them like a prayer and reopened them in just two seconds, pushing the body forward as if he was about to hit someone.

In front of the dragon, Strange lowered his right hand and raised his free hand, making a bow with his index finger.

The world around him and the monster changed and seemed to fall apart. The vacuum of air was replaced by transparent plates that seemed to come out of nowhere, while the city of New York began to rotate on itself, from the bottom upwards, like the lid of a silver tray.  
The huge burning metropolis was replaced by an immaculate city, and even the sky brightened again.

Ghidorah looked around with a startled expression.

"What kind of trick is this?" it snarled between its teeth, turning a deadly look to the Avenger.  
**  
**Not at all intimidated by the implicit threat of the beast, Stephen merely smiled.

"We are in the Mirror Dimension. A reality parallel to ours, in which there is nothing but what we sorcerers are able to bring. Imagine it as a reflection of the universe", he said with a shrug, to then indicate the surrounding area. "In this place there are no escape routes. Whatever I bring here ... it gets trapped."

Ghidorah remained silent for what seemed an interminable time, its blood-coloured eyes fixed on the figure of the man. Strange felt dissected by that evil look, but he managed to keep a firm expression.  
Then, the creature pursed its lips in an amused grin.

"So many beautiful words, sorcerer ... if it wasn't for a little detail that you forgot to mention."

"And what would it be?" the man retorted, crossing both arms in front of his chest.

Ghidorah snapped his jaws and began to advance.

"If indeed this Mirror Dimension could hold me indefinitely ... you would have already gone", it said with a de facto tone**, **turning a mischievous look to Strange.  
**  
**The man remained silent, while the monster's shadow dominated him.

"You can keep me in here as long as you are present, can't you? Such a shame", it chuckled mockingly, just as the opponent took a defensive position.

"You didn't take me to this place to trap me. No ... you brought me to fight, so that our battle does no harm to your precious city."

And, having said that, the hydra opened its immense wings once again, straightening its tail like a snake and prepared for the imminent clash. Almost simultaneously, Strange made a couple of rapid movements with his hands, evoking a pair of golden shields out of nowhere.

In front of that blatant display of challenge, the smile on Ghidorah's faces grew wilder.

"Then come to me, sorcerer. Show me what you're capable of!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The cloud of dust dissolved in the air. Jessica opened her eyes slightly and started coughing.

She looked around. There seemed to be no living soul in the room. There was only one high-pitched whistle that constantly pounds the eardrum without ever wanting to stop.

She put her hands over her ears and the sound stopped and then started again as soon as she took them off her head. She was confused. Confused and frightened. She had seen the ceiling go down and then ...

She spun around and let out a sigh of relief. The boy's figure lay motionless beside her, apparently unharmed. He seemed passed out, judging by his closed eyes and the rhythmic movement of his chest. He must have been quite frightened.

It was at that moment that the woman realized that the outer wall of the room had completely collapsed, replaced by a rectangular opening through which the afternoon light was filtering, mixed with ash and stench of smoke.

She turned to the rubble and gave a start.

John was slumped to the ground, not far from the marble block, and his right leg was crushed under a large piece of the bulkheads, covered in blood.

Jessica got up quickly and began to head towards the man with the intention of helping him. Before she could reach him, however, something hit her in the stomach, making her bump into the wall. She raised her head slightly ... and stopped.

The figure of the strangest and most gruesome being the young woman had ever seen had taken place in front of her. It almost looked like an oversized flea.  
The creature studied her carefully with eight small black and evil eyes.

It bow its head, opening and closing its jaws bristling with sharp teeth.

Jessica looked straight ahead without blinking. The huge arthropod sniffed a couple of times, dilating the nostrils, and with its inhalation it shook her hair. Then, the creature turned its head to John's body. It opened its jaws wide and let out a shriek.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!**

**Next time, Strange vs Ghidorah.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's a new chapter****. ****I wish you a good read!**

**Don't forget to review ;)**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

The Milano was suspended in the firmament, surrounded by countless stars and nebulae of sublime and suggestive beauty. To make the experience even more shocking there was the almost infinite depth of the surrounding space.  
From that position, the universe extended in every direction, without the hindrance of planets or moons.

It was a breath-taking vision, but at the same time cold and disarming. That empty universe was completely indifferent to the presence of the vessel, as well as its occupants.  
Thor stood still and motionless, contemplating the landscape beyond the porthole of his cabin.

By now he had been locked in the room for almost a day, more precisely since Rocket had confirmed the trajectory that Jormungand was following, through the reports of the various ships that disappeared in the last week. And, with great horror of the Asgardian, this destination had turned out to be his second home: Midgard, Earth, where the remains of his people now lived.

The man's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Don't disturb my peace, Quill."

"It's me. I just wanted to see how you are."

The sound of that voice forced the Asgardian to reconsider his words. He would have recognized her everywhere. It belonged to Nebula, Gamora's sister ... former daughter of the Mad Titan, Thanos.

Thor had been part of the Guardians for nearly five years, and despite having linked with all team members, his relationship with the woman in question was very different. A relationship born of camaraderie and mutual respect that they felt towards each other as warriors.  
Both had very similar stories and had gone through the same sufferings for better or worse.

The other Guardian members used to joke about the subject, assuming that there was something tender between the two ... even if few dared to externalize these thoughts. After all, nobody knew what was more painful: whether Nebula's knives stuck in the back or Thor's Stormbreaker stuck on the head.

"... Come in" the god of thunder answered, after a short moment of pause.

The cyborg peeked into the room, crossing it with a light and elegant step, and then sitting next to him.

She remained silent, while Thor patiently waited for her to reveal the reason for her sudden visit.

Although she tried very hard to hide it, the woman was somewhat embarrassed. Every time she was in Thor's presence, in fact, she found it difficult to develop an adequate course of action.

He was a teammate, so it was her duty to try to shake him out of his demoralized state. After all, a demotivated warrior was a deadly danger to the whole group. Or, at least, this was what she had kept repeating to herself since the moment she decided to come and talk to him.

So ... what was holding her back? She didn't know, it was the first time that she had faced such feelings, which had already begun to torment her for several months. They were uncomfortable ... and she didn't like them at all. At that moment she felt as if her stomach had been replaced by a boulder.

She vowed to talk about it with Gamora in a second moment. Maybe she would have been able to understand what was wrong with her, and give her some advice on how to deal with it.

With that thought in mind, she took courage and took a deep breath.

"How are you doing?" she asked with an apparently neutral voice, before mentally slapping herself on the forehead. She knew perfectly well that he wasn't doing good at all. That was surely the worst way that such a conversation could have started.

Thor just shrugged.

"As usual. Traumas of the past, you know how it is", he replied casually, sketching a forced smile.

Nebula nodded sympathetically. "It's because of ... Jormu ... what did you say it's called?"

"You can call him Ghidorah", the god said, waving his right hand contemptuously. "On most planets it's known by that name."

"I see…" the woman mumbled, putting her hands on her lap and looking down.

She wanted to talk to him, try to get it processed, but she found herself unable to do it. She felt like she was stuck, carrying too much weight even for a warrior like her.

She shook her head to free herself from those treacherous thoughts. She was Nebula, for gods sake! Daughter of Thanos, the one who had inflicted countless tortures on her since she was a child.

She had faced an entire army with her head held high, and had prevailed against all those who had tried to kill her. A simple conversation could hardly have been so difficult.

"It's not just Ghidorah, is it?" she asked abruptly, attracting Thor's eyes.

"What makes you think so?"

"Your gaze. It's the same that I have when I think of ... well, everything."

"Is it?"

"Don't do sarcasm with me. It doesn't suit you", the woman replied coldly.

She regretted it almost immediately. In fact, the face of the Asgardian was crossed by a flash of anger.

"Is that so? Well, then I apologize deeply. Sorry if I'm too busy worrying about the fate of the Earth, about my companions, who because of that beast could meet the same fate of my people! Of my parents! The fate that my brother met ... because of your father!" he exclaimed, while numerous electric discharges began to wrap around his figure.

Nebula pulled back with a worried look, which prompted the god of thunder to calm down. It had been a long time since he had vented himself in front of someone. And that woman certainly didn't deserve his anger.

After regaining his composure, he turned a visibly displeased expression to the cyborg. "Sorry, I didn't want to raise my voice like this. I lost control, and ..."

"Stop", Nebula ordered, interrupting him before he could complete the sentence**. **"I am the one who ... who has to ... apologize."  
**  
**Thor stared at her surprised.

Nebula had always been a very proud person, after all. The fact that she was willing to apologize to him ... well, it was strange. Needless to say, the Asgardian found himself quite touched by the cyborg's attempt to make him feel better.

"I was indelicate", she continued, heedless of the thoughts that were going through the mind of the man. "I just wanted to understand ... and now I know. You and me ... in a way ... we are alike. We both suffered and we lost our family."

"But you still have your sister. Or, at least, a version of your sister", Thor added with regret, thinking back to Loki.

"It's true, but the Guardians and the Avengers ... aren't they like brothers? You fought with them, you almost died with them, you suffered and rejoiced with them. This ... makes us ... brothers, in a way. At one time I lived only on hate and regret. Regret for not being able to please my father and hatred for my sister. Then I realized ... that living in the past is futile."

Having said that, she pursed her lips in a self-deprecating smile."However, bad memories are as much a part of us as beautiful ones. They are what shaped our path, the result of our choices, whether they were right or wrong. And it is through those memories that we are able to improve ... and honour those who have fallen to allow us to get this far."

Unknowingly, even the Asgardian found himself smiling.

He settled down next to her and said: "You're very wise. Maybe more than me."

"I don't think so, no. I simply learned from my mistakes."

"You're absolutely right, but it's not easy for me to forget. Especially Loki, the brother I finally found and lost immediately after. I remember too well when we played together as children. Then we grew up, and during adolescence ... he began to be persecuted by other Asgardians because of his diversity. And I did nothing to stop it, intoxicated by my position as heir to the throne and hero of Asgard. Loki must have felt cheated ... so hate and envy took over him. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if ... if I hadn't become the arrogant who learned to hate", he whispered with a low voice.

Meanwhile, Nebula laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Nobody can know. What matters is that he forgave you, and wherever he is now ... he smiles at you. He loves you, and it's the only thing that matters", she said with the kindest voice she could find.

Thor gave her a grateful smile. In doing so, they both found themselves mirrored in each other's eyes, for what seemed an interminable time.  
It was then that Nebula realized, perhaps for the first time since they met ... that the man's blue pupils were gorgeous. They reminded her of the clear skies of the most beautiful planets in the universe, including Earth itself.

At the same time, Thor began to drown in the black and shiny wells that the cyborg had for eyes, full of a strength that in his long years as a prince he had found only in the most capable warriors.

Both tensed, the muscles full of tension and anticipation.

Without realizing it, their bodies began to move on their own, slowly approaching. Until ...

"Thor, raise your ass, Quill says that we've arrived in the Solar System of the Earth!"

Rocket's voice made them jump straight, pushing them away abruptly.

The little raccoon went through the bedroom door, being rather surprised to see them together.

"Er ... what were you doing?" he asked with a mocking smile.

"Nothing!" they answered in unison, trying to conceal the mutual embarrassment.

The genetic experiment simply rolled his eyes.

"Of course, of course ... move now, come on!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

A flapping of wings, dry and thin, while pieces of buildings floated in the air.

The wind blew, at first ruffling the windows of the skyscrapers, then more and more strongly, shaking the cars placed on the road.

A rustle that brought with it the curse of the cosmos, the excruciating echo of an impending misfortune. The thunder of the dragon.

Those were perhaps the worst moments Strange had gone through until then. The horrible sounds of Ghidorah's anger echoed in the Mirror City like a scream that heralded death.

The dragon could descend at any time, from anywhere.

He didn't even have time to prepare a defence plan. The beast came booming from above, lapping the sides of the buildings with discharges, flapping its large wings with a noise similar to the roar of the wind.

Its fiery and luminous breath burned the road before Strange, and the man was forced to summon a silver barrier out of nowhere to protect himself.

Darting beams rose, in the light of which the black shadows of the buildings surrounding them danced. Then the darkness fell again, while the hydra passed him and pointed once more towards him.

Strange was not intimidated and cast a spell to counterattack.

The bullet of purple light passed through the air with a prolonged hiss, but was promptly avoided by a quick turn of the opponent.

Ghidorah raised its right head, and lightning flashed in the direction of the sorcerer, who turned and vanished in a twinkle of the cloak.

For a few seconds the image of the man was replaced by a distorted and unnatural figure that, like a red vortex, materialized behind the hydra.

The dragon didn't move, while the left head turned and shot another graviton beam at Strange. However he missed it, and instead hit a skyscraper in the centre of the battlefield. The building, after having caught fire, exploded in a myriad of splinters and fragments, which began to float in mid-air like helium-filled balloons.

Then, the three heads fired simultaneously. At the same time, an orange ray, whose shape vaguely resembled those produced by the three-headed monster, sprang from Strange's hands.

The two attacks met in mid-air in a blaze of lightning bolts and discharges, which began to twirl around the area like streamers, lifting shards and pieces of road surface in every direction.

Bursts and peals rang throughout the length of the alternate Times Square, while the windows of the buildings were shattered, pouring glass flakes all over the square.  
Strange began to back away from the power of the blow, and felt his back collapse against the wall of the building behind him.

He let out a hiss and began to twirl his arm in rapid and fast spiral contractions.

Both attacks took the form of a whirlwind and exploded in a myriad of shiny specks.

Ghidorah growled in annoyance and fired another electric beam. Strange conjured a second shield out of nowhere, which deflected the blow to a perfect representation of the Empire State Building.

In the next instant, the building exploded, investing that part of the city with a hail of bricks and glass, under which anyone who was no bigger than a cockroach couldn't have survived.

Mentally, Strange found himself congratulating his foresight, even though containing a creature of such power within the Mirror Dimension ... well, it was proving more tiring than he initially thought.

In front of him, Ghidorah narrowed his eyes threateningly, widening his wings and starting to wave them with rapid but elegant movements.

Cars and vehicles twirled in the air like many toys.  
A white van peacefully travelled a stretch of the road, remaining three meters above the asphalt, with the wheels turning unnecessarily in the air, the doors of the rear hatch hung by the deformed hinges, tools and timers that fell out rolling in the rubble.

Strange managed to avoid it just in time, but he was still hit by a car.

Noticing the sorcerer's difficulty, Ghidorah smiled and fired another electric beam.

The resulting heat wave made the wizard skid, sending him crashing into a store, where he passed like a snowplough on typewriters and filing cabinets.  
**  
**The ground shook in a tremor similar to a earthquake. Throughout the area the windows exploded.

Strange reappeared on top of a skyscraper a few seconds later, his cloak and clothes slightly scorched, as the opponent turned to face him.

He managed to stay on his feet out of sheer willpower, panting heavily.

"I can do this all day", he growled through clenched teeth, his gaze fixed on Ghidorah.

The creature landed on the ground, and peered at him with its mischievous eyes for what seemed an interminable time.

"You are lying", the middle head said, curling both lips into a conscious grin. "Your species is so easy to understand. Shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, the pheromones you generate are all access doors of your limited nature. You can't hide anything from me."

Strange swallowed hard, while the left head began to chuckle hysterically, as if it was taunting him. At the same time, the one on the right smiled sadistically, uncovering the long fangs and snapping the forked tongue.

"Let me clarify the situation. By now I know what special abilities you have. I can see the improvements inside you", Ghidorah continued, advancing towards the Avenger. "I can capture the electrical activity of your brain. I know what moves you are preparing to make. I have already faced our confrontation in a million different ways in my mind. I can hit you before you realize it in the least."

Having said that, it spreads its big wings, causing a shadow to fall on the surrounding area.

"I am what every creature dreams to become. I am what children see when they think of death for the first time. This is what it means to be Ghidorah!" it proclaimed with a strong and thundering voice, while the body of the creature lit up with a golden glow.

Electric discharges escaped from the tips of the wings, affecting the road surface and raising pieces of shards in mid-air.

Strange summoned another pair of shields out of nowhere, putting himself in a defensive position.

"I will not allow you to further threaten this planet", he said coldly, receiving a mocking smile from the monster.

"Why not?" the hydra asked, with a shrug.

"Things come and go, sorcerer. This is the juice. In billions and billions of years everything will have come and gone many times, in various forms. Even I will be gone. Someone will kill me absurdly. A real shame, the loss of a remarkable life form. Conservationists will protest, I'm sure about that", it said with an ironic smile.  
**  
**Then the three heads threw grimaces full of malice at the wizard.

"These buildings and these stones .. everything will pass. Poof!" the middle one snorted. "I'm just anticipating the path."

Apparently, that was the drop that made the vase overflow.

Strange screamed in anger and jumped towards the dragon, his right hand wrapped in a shield and his left hand hoisting a sparkling silver spear. Ghidorah just waved his tail, hitting the Avenger.

Strange's protection was reduced to a mere mass of stray sparks, while the wizard's body crashed straight into a skyscraper, piercing it from side to side.

He fell to the ground, rolling along the road for a hundred meters, stopping only when he met a car in the centre of the road.

He started with pain. Probably a femur and some ribs had broken.

And while he was getting up, Ghidorah landed right in front of him, raising a dense cloud of dust.

"Each of you mortals is only good at slaughtering other mortals! To fight and fight until your enemies' bones are scattered on the battlefields, only to return to fight the next generation as a successful harvest!" the middle head said, leaning forward and staring Stephen straight in the eyes.

"Do you really think you have any hope? Look at me! Under the epidermis of the history of the cosmos ... the veins of my path pulsate. These planets, the stars ... even a deeply ignorant individual can feel that they are full of energy and meaning. That meaning is me. I am that energy. One day all living beings will say, looking back ... that I was the precursor of the end."

And, after hissing these words, the monster spread both wings a second time, overlying the tiny figure of the Avenger. Strange, now standing, summoned another shield, bigger than the previous ones.

At the same time, the gills of Ghidorah glowed bright red.

"Super or ordinary, you are simply a man. And I ... I'm a god!" it exclaimed, unloading a torrent of electricity on the sorcerer.

Heat waves, flashes of light, black smoke and the sound of the explosion spread in all directions.

Stephen gritted his teeth, appealing to all his strength to sustain the power of that attack.

The blow had generated terrible 3000 degree Celsius discharges. At temperatures above 2000 degrees the human body melted before it burned, so it would not survive for long. It would soon end up like the road, melted like a sugar sculpture, smashed on the asphalt, like a used piece of chewing gum.

And as the man's energy was consumed ... the Mirror Dimension began to shatter, until it was replaced by the real New York.

The sudden return of Ghidorah panicked all those passers-by who had recklessly approached the point where it had disappeared a few minutes earlier, with the false hope that Strange had finally saved them from that fearful threat.

Those same passers-by were immediately incinerated because of the electric shock that the monster was pouring on the wizard.

However, noticing the sudden change of landscape, the beast ended the attack and straightened up suddenly, smiling satisfied.

Strange fell to his knees, now exhausted.

All the three heads of the hydra turned towards him.

"Young fool. Only now do you understand the madness of your actions", the middle one commented, opening its jaws once more.

The monster's throat began to vibrate, and the man waited with a resigned expression for the impending death.

"So this is how it ends", he whispered to himself. "Well ... it could have been worse..."

He didn't have time to finish that thought.

A scarlet glow illuminated the area in front of Ghidorah. Then, he heard a prolonged buzz followed by a deafening toll, while the air around the monster's chest was filled with blood-red mixed flashes.

The dragon was pushed back several meters, as if it had been hit by an invisible train.

It tried to use the wings to stay anchored to the ground, but the impact force was large enough to lift it. It landed about two hundred meters from Strange, who in the meantime had turned in the direction of his mysterious saviour.

Wanda Maximoff emerged from the cloud of dust, with her hands stretched out in front of her and her eyes adorned with an intense red glow, of which the body was partially wrapped.

"Stay away from him", she snarled, before kneeling beside the sorcerer.

The man wanted to speak to her, perhaps to thank her, or even to tell her to run and not look back. But he was too tired even to do one of those actions, and he just stared at the young woman with eyes full of relief.

She smiled at him, while the figure of Wong appeared at the border of the war zone and ran towards the couple.

Without wasting time, he helped the wizard to get up, murmuring something that sounded vaguely like a "Thank God".

Confident that the man was now in good hands, Wanda completely turned her attention to Ghidorah.

The dragon had approached the trio cautiously, its eyes fixed on the new arrival.

"Another challenger comes to the rescue of the fallen. This is becoming irritating", the middle head commented.

Wanda tightened both eyelids.

"Believe me, I'm just getting started", she hissed angrily, while her hands began to glow with scarlet light.

The left head observed the action with a childish glint in its eyes, apparently intrigued by that unusual fireworks display. The sentiment didn't seem shared by the one on the right, which gave the Avenger a threatening snarl.

"Do you really think you can face me alone? To succeed where so many have failed?" the middle one asked, smiling mockingly.

Then, it opened its mouth wide, ready to discharge a torrent of electricity against the young woman. It had no chance.

Someone came from behind the monster.

The air between that mysterious figure and the hydra's body rippled, like the surface of a sea moved by the waves. At the same time, a deafening trill, mixed with the echo of a thunder, echoed throughout the length of the neighbourhood, shattering the windows within a radius of several meters and forcing the spectators, including Wanda, to plug their ears.

The sound also affected Ghidorah's heads, which released a roar of pain and anger, interrupting their imminent attack.

Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, landed gracefully on top of a skyscraper, not affected by the sonic wave she had just generated.

"She's not alone", she said with a confident smile, attracting the furious gaze of the dragon.

And then, three other figures took their places around the beast. A vision that raised the hearts of all those people who weren't able to escape from the area, hidden among the falling buildings.

The heroes known as War Machine, Falcon and the White Wolf ... had come to their rescue.

"Sorry for being late, do you mind if we join the party?" Rhodey said, waving quickly in the direction of Wanda and Quake. They nodded back, while Ghidorah's heads began to peer at them threateningly.

"Fury, update us", Bucky said, pressing on the headset he was wearing.

_**"That thing took Carol's blows as if nothing had happened, I doubt that you'll be able even to scratch its skin. Aim at the eyes and the heads, they seem to be its only weak point."**  
_  
"Roger", Sam answered, before changing frequency. "Sharon, give us cover fire."

_**"I'm on my way."  
**_  
At that precise moment, a shower of bullets fell on Ghidorah's back, taking it by surprise.

The creature roared with anger and looked up at the sky. The tapered shape of the Quinjet emerged from the cloud cover, darting over the immense figure of the dragon.

The head on the right narrowed its eyes and fired an electric beam against that new threat. The aircraft, however, avoided the blow with superb skill, disappearing once again into the clouds.

Needless to say, Ghidorah was not at all amused by the turn the events had taken.

"I don't have time for you insects", the middle head said, spreading its wings.

Wanda and Quake took up a defensive position, ready to repel any attack that the creature would have poured on them. However ... nothing happened. Or rather, something happened, but not what the young women expected. Just like the other avengers, for that matter.

The scales that made up Ghidoraha's body began to vibrate, producing a series of low, rhythmic pops. Some scales tilted, rising from the layer of skin and revealing something that would haunt the nightmares of the heroes for the days to come.  
Under those scales, in fact ... there were insects. Insects the size of a car, similar to fleas. All with jaws bristling with sharp teeth.

The creatures began to crawl over Ghidorah's body, pouring down on the ground like rain. And there were hundreds, perhaps thousands. A small army that came directly from the beast's body.

Perhaps they were parasites, or beings symbiotically linked to the dragon**, **the result of a silent agreement resulting from years and years of joint evolution.

None of the Avengers had the opportunity to dwell on the subject.

"Well… this is something that you don't see every day", Daisy commented.

And then, the creatures threw themselves at the heroes with a joint squeal.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The giant flea jumped at Jessica.

The woman wasted no time and threw herself towards the beast, just as it opened its jaws. She managed to block them just before they closed on her, appealing to all her strength.

The animal roared and stuck a clawed paw in the detective's shoulder. The latter winced in pain, but forced herself not to scream.

Uncontainable anger and exasperation got the better on her common sense and, armed only with her own hands, she began to pull.

A loud crack was heard, while Jessica tore the monster's jaws.

A green substance gushed from the insect's body and spilled over the detective's body, much to her disgust.

The woman threw the flea's corpse, panting because of the effort. In that moment, she heard a groan behind her.

The boy who had been drinking with her just a few minutes before had recovered from fainting and had started to move.

Jessica ran to him and knee beside him.

"Are you ok?" she asked with a worried tone, while her drinking partner coughed because of the dust.

"Yes ... I ... I think so. I'm just a little shaken", he muttered through his teeth. His face was completely covered with soot and a sumptuous bruise running across his forehead.

Jessica nodded in relief. "What's your name?"

"F… Ford", the man replied, with a hoarse voice.

"Jessica, nice to meet you", the detective said with a reassuring tone, receiving an ironic smile in return.

"Yes, I know who you are."

The woman just rolled her eyes**. **At least he had kept his humor, and he didn't seem traumatized by what had just happened.

The room around them was dark because of the dust, but slightly illuminated by the light passing through the blanket.

As Jessica helped the boy to get up, she heard a loud clicking sound coming from outside the bar.

Panicked, the two hid behind a large piece of ceiling, leaning against the bar.

"Don't make a sound", the woman ordered.

She leaned over the debris to get a better view of the area.

The detective heard a hissing sound that grew and died slowly, followed by that unmistakable ticking sound. It could have been the wind, yet she knew it wasn't.  
Beside her, the young man swallowed hard.

"We are going to die, aren't we?"

"Not if I've got something to say about it", the woman replied coldly. She leaned forward and returned to stare at the surrounding area.

In the darkness of the room she saw the green rectangular surfaces of the now overturned tables. Among these, another giant flea moved easily, silent like a ghost, with the exception of the slight tolling caused by its scissors-like jaws.

The woman shivered. That monster was much bigger than the previous one. She could see it although part of the body was covered by some of the furniture.

Jessica only glimpsed the upper part of the exoskeleton, the two front legs tightened at the sides and the massive head bristling with little evil eyes.

The arthropod was on alert; as it advanced, it looked from side to side, moving its head with sudden movements, like a dog. It proceeded decisively.

From time to time it bent over, lowering its muzzle to the table. Jessica saw it sniff the air quickly.

Then the head jerked up, alert, swinging rapidly back and forth to patrol the area. And then the woman understood: it was coming towards them. It had smelled them!  
She slumped quickly against the cabinet so as not to be seen. Ford noticed.

"What's going on?"

The superheroine didn't answer. She gestured for silence and started pushing him towards the innermost part of the room.

Slowly, very slowly, the two positioned themselves behind a table and let out an imperceptible sigh.

Jessica pulled her head out again to analyse the situation. To her horror, the flea had begun to feast on John's body.

The man let out a groan, followed by painful grunts, indicating that he was still alive. Then, the flea detaches his head.

Jessica raised a hand to her mouth to avoid shouting, but the sudden movement made her elbow clash against the surface of the table. The beast raised its head suddenly and pointed its muzzle in the direction of their hiding place.

Jessica hid her head without a second thought.

The creature snorted and opened its jaws, exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth. It stared forward again, jerking its head from side to side.

The woman felt her heart skip a beat. Now they had the insect a few meters from them.

She saw the sticky and shiny beer pouring on the floor, and the small nerve contractions of the hair on its legs.

Jessica took a few calming breaths and motioned for her partner to move.

Without making the slightest noise, the two saw behind the counter.

The creature, meanwhile, stuck its head at the end of their previous hiding place and began to sniff the wooden boards.

Jessica turned back to Ford and put a hand on his shoulder. The latter stared at her in terror.

"Do you trust me?" the woman asked, full of anticipation.

In response, the young man merely raised an eyebrow, whispering: "Do I have another choice?"

"No, I don't think so."

And, having said that, Jessica put her feet on the vertical surface of the counter. Then, she grabbed a can of beer and threw it towards the opposite wall of the room, making it fall right in front of where the couple had hidden.

The flea jerked its head up and pointed in the direction of the object. It approached cautiously and began to scratch it with its paws, growling threateningly. Jessica wasn't expecting anything else.

She took a deep breath and, with all the strength she had in her body, pushed the counter with a flexion of the legs.

The piece of furniture, however large, ended up succumbing to the superhuman strength of the superheroine, and broke up from the ground.

The insect didn't notice in time, and was crushed by the weight of the wood straight against the wall.

Jessica got up in a hurry, throwing herself heavily against the counter and trapping the screaming beast.

"Help me!" she ordered imperiously, shaking Ford from his state of terror.

The young man went to the woman and began to push, while the flea started to kick and growl like a crazy dog. At the same time, the wall began to get wet with its blood, and numerous pops signalled the break of the exoskeleton.

In the end, after what seemed like an endless time, Jessica took one last step forward, nailing the creature to the wall with a loud **CRACK!  
**  
The beast, now dead, remained stuck there, with the counter stuck in its body.

At the same time, the woman let out a sigh of relief. It had been hard ... but they had made it.

She turned her gaze to a panting Ford.

"And now ... let's get out of here. I want to know what the fuck is going on in this damned city."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!**

**Yes, Ghidorah has an army of Cloverfield-Style fleas. In the next chapter, we'll see how Peter and Carol are doing, Wanda and Quake vs Ghidorah, Sam, Rohdey and Bucky vs fleas army and...other things ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's a new chapter****. I really worked hard for writing this one, so I really hope you'll find time to leave a review and tell me if I did a good job. **

**I wish you a good read!**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

Peter landed gently on top of a building, Carol's body still firmly held in his arms. Once on the ground, the woman let out a pained groan, which pushed the vigilante to gently place her against the wall of the roof.

"Let me take a look", he said with a worried tone, receiving a sharp look from the woman.

"I'm fine, I can still fight ..."

"Carol!" Peter replied, interrupting her before she could finish the sentence.

The superheroine flinched, surprised by her partner's sudden outburst. He let out a sigh, grabbing both her hands reassuringly.

"Let me have a look", he said with a gentler voice, trying to put her at ease. Carol was a very proud woman, he knew it well. She hated to appear weak in front of others, but being stubborn in such a situation would certainly not have helped her.

The blonde looked away, nodding just to give him her tacit assent.

Peter proceeded to lift part of the suit, revealing the Avenger's stomach. It was completely covered in bruises, and a deep wound ran down her side, from which streams of blood were pouring out.

"We must take you to a hospital", the boy said, after a careful analysis.

Carol made a couple of coughs.  
"N-no, no hospital", she whispered with a low voice.

The vigilante stared at her incredulously. "Carol, it's really bad ..."

"They wouldn't know how to help me", she retorted through clenched teeth, trying to stop another wave of pain.

Peter then understood: she was not refusing the possibility of receiving treatment. It was very unlikely that any hospital would have the necessary equipment to patch someone like her, whose alien biology made her very different from any normal human being, starting with her blood.

"What do you need?" he asked, after a moment of silence.

Carol seemed to consider the question.  
"Energy. A LOT of energy", she answered, and then burst into another cough attack. A few drops of blood dripped from her lips, spilling onto the ground. It was a vision that managed to shake Peter to the core.

"There should be a power plant nearby", the boy said, rising her once more in his arms.

The woman nodded satisfied.  
"Take me there", she ordered with a tired voice, while numerous roars began to resonate from the city centre.

Peter glanced quickly in that direction. The battle with Ghidorah had started again ... and he seriously doubted that it would end soon.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Rhodey advanced, while the ground trembled at every step.

He threw the fleas that crowded the driveway into the air, raised his arms and the armour highlighted seven hundred and thirteen possible targets.

The first passage with the M-2 turned a dozen of these beasts into hamburgers.

The man watched the ammunition counters plummet with three-digit numbers, while a second passage destroyed twenty more of those deals and breached the intersection. At that moment, a flea at least three times larger than the others jumped on him, making him crash onto the asphalt. The interior of the armour began to turn red.

Getting up with difficulty, the man noticed that the insect was just a few meters away from him, ready to complete the work.

Without wasting time, Rhodey grabbed a Black Cadillac and threw it on the animal, flattening it on the ground. The hero leapt into the sky and landed heavily on the roof of the car. All four wheels exploded and the Cadillac fell apart.

Under the vehicle, the creature let out a deafening cry. Part of the head and one paw were stuck under the passenger door and were covered in broken glass.

The creature began to open and close its jaws, staring angrily at the Avenger.

"God, you are really ugly", he commented.

The monster moved and extended a claw to grab him, but the movement was slow and clumsy. The machine creaked as the creature tried to push it away.

Rhodey raised his right arm, ready to finish the opponent. However, just before he could do it, a bristly paw clung to his leg and slammed him off the vehicle.

The new flea, as large as the one under the transport, threw the Avenger onto the sidewalk. The hero's head hit the road surface with a loud thud.

Then, the man's body was thrown into the air by the jaws of another insect, before being slammed to the ground once again. His ears began to hum.

The third flea pushed the car aside and looked at him. At that point, Rhodey activated the suit's ventilation mechanisms, defying gravity, and struck a punch with all his might, straight against the opponent's skull.

Dozens of gigantic teeth fragmented and flew in all directions as soon as the monster's jaws fell apart.

Rhodey turned and launched a second blow that destroyed the rib cage of another flea, spilling green blood on the road surface.

The hero struck a third blow against the last enemy, and then a fourth and finally a fifth, until the insect began to recede. With another surge of energy, the man managed to take its back in one hand and its tusk in the other.

Then he clung to the monster's chest and turned the head of the arthropod. The skull turned to the left ... and stopped moving.

"This will be a long day", he muttered.

Two blocks away, Bucky continued to fight from the ground while trying to reload his guns and clear his mind.

He made a slip to the ground ... and fired. The insects' bodies fell one after the other, with each shot fired, and, until he got back on his feet, the man certainly didn't stop to check how many of those bullets had been fatal to the beasts. Too few, judging by the fact that they kept coming after him.

He emptied the magazines to take a breather and then inserted new ones. They were the last.

Sam was busy fighting with other fleas about twenty meters away. Among them there was an opening filled with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of those animals.

The Avenger's guns fired once more, eliminating a whole row of those deals, until the man managed to reach an abandoned pick-up truck in the middle of the road.

The fleas saw him coming and they growled. They launched towards him, charging like a herd of angry bulls.

One of them fell instantly against the soldier's blows and Bucky used the corpse as a springboard.

While suspended in mid-air, the man rearranged his weapons in the holster and kicked one of the bugs out of the pickup. Then he placed himself on the vehicle and punched another flea with his metal arm.

The beast stumbled backwards and bumped into another insect, making it fall on the road.

Bucky shot straight into the creature's jaws, tearing them apart.

With the prosthesis he blocked a claw that was about to hit him in the stomach, folded the flea's leg and with a well-aimed blow to the sternum he managed to pierce its exoskeleton.

The creature screamed in pain and Bucky kicked it, knocking it onto its back. Then he shot into the bare belly of the being, killing it instantly.

He glanced briefly behind him: Quake and Wanda were still busy fighting against Ghidorah, whose attacks had become more aggressive and persistent.

The monster's right head jumped towards Wanda who managed to dodge it. The dragon's teeth shattered on the ground right next to the woman's feet.

Scarlet Witch seized the moment: she telekinetically grabbed one of the fleas and hurled it against the face of the beast. She took two more and, using them as maces, she hit the monster's skull three times before the insects completely crushed.

The middle head snapped forward to bite her, but Wanda had already moved.

She launched a telekinetic wave against the dragon's back, causing it to crash heavily on the road.

She prepared to launch another attack. However, before she could do it, a flea attacked her from behind, causing her to fall on the road.

The young woman got rid of it with a rapid telekinetic attack, but was attacked by at least a dozen of those insects.

A hundred yards from her, Ghidorah decided to take advantage of the difficult time the ex-Avenger was having. He took aim, opened its jaws wide and ...

A sound wave slammed its left head against the building next door, causing the monster to stumble backwards.

The creature's neck moved back and forth, like that of a snake, before something in its distorted face focused on Quake, launching a snarl.

"Hi, there", the woman said. "Did I catch your attention, big boy?"

The hydra's answer came in the form of a electric beam, which Daisy was forced to dodge.

Below her, Wanda had managed to kill most of her assailants.

One of them hit her from behind, while two others launched into a frontal charge.

Scarlet Witch reached out her right hand and mentally delivered a blow of psychic energy against the arthropods. She shrugged off the one that was trying to bite her and blew its jaws. Then, she heard a warning cry from Quake.

She turned, just in time to see Ghidorah's three heads leaping forward. The creature's mouths resembled a carnivorous plant armed with teeth and tusks.

Instinctively, Wanda raised both hands to protect herself, evoking a telekinetic shield from nothing.

The dragon snarled and snorted, while sharp teeth snapped the scarlet barrier in an attempt to overcome it. Despite this, the superheroine appealed to all the strength she had in her body to maintain that position, her lips tightened in a grimace, her eyes lit in red.

She planted her feet on the ground and let out a scream of pure anger, starting to push the monster back. Needless to say, Ghidorah found itself quite surprised by the young woman's actions.

Here, in front of it, for the first time in countless millennia, a mortal was proving to be a real challenge. Its attempts to hit her with its electric beams were worthless, the telekinetic powers of this human were proving to be a real challenge. She was powerful, the middle head had to admit to itself. Very powerful.

And yet ... something unusual attracted the attention of the dragon. It heard a mass of indistinct and confused thoughts making their way into her mind. And, after paying more attention to it, the monster realized that it was that woman who projected them.

Initially it thought it must be some kind of mental attack, perhaps a clumsy attempt of a mental intrusion. However ... it soon realized that those thoughts were too messy, full of anger, pain ... and regret.

It was then that the monster came to a surprising realization: that woman, whose mind was strong enough to generate telekinetic attacks capable of fighting the destroyer of worlds.. had a completely exposed mind, without any kind of defence. She was projecting her thoughts into Ghidorah's brain ... without even realizing it.

_"For what reason?"_ it was the first thought that passed through the middle head of the hydra.

There were several possible hypotheses. Maybe she was less powerful than it initially thought, but it doubted it strongly, especially after that incredible display of offensive skills. Or no one had ever taught her to properly develop her powers, the use of which was limited to self-taught learning.

The latter option aroused an evil smile from Ghidorah. Now the beast knew exactly what the most suitable course of action would be to reverse the fight in its favour.

The middle head motioned for the other two to step back, which prompted the couple to look at it confusedly. However, knowing well that it wasn't in their interest to disobey the orders of their 'leader', the two heads did as commanded.

At the same time, the middle head lowered itself to the ground, meeting Wanda's gaze.

She narrowed her eyes and prepared to attack once again. At the same time, Ghidorah's pupils seemed to light up ... and the young woman's world began to collapse.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Dark. It was the first thing Wanda saw once her eyes opened. The world around her was dark ... and it was cold.

Then ... the light came. And the reality around her changed with a swirl of colours and shapes, leaving room for a rather familiar scenario.

A room completely covered with shards, rubble and broken wooden planks. On the sloping floor, slightly lower, there was a grenade, on whose cylindrical surface a single and simple word stood out: Stark.

This was a dream. It didn't seem like it, but it had to be. First, she had already lived through July 15th 2005, and it felt terribly unfair to have to relive it. Because that was the same day her parents died.

Second, she remembered a lot of things going on in the past few months, especially her conversations with Dr. Banner.

The image suddenly changed.

This time no darkness: the path of memories, for better or for worse, was illuminated by arc lamps. But the movie was confused, as if the editor had raised his elbow a little at lunchtime and could no longer remember the common thread. In part, this was due to deformations in temporal terms.

Wanda had the impression of living in the past, in the present and in the future, all at the same time.

There was Pietro holding her, whispering gently that it would be all right.

Another shot: now there were several people crowded around her.

On the ambulance she was unconscious, but she could still contemplate herself, as if she were out of her body. Then there was something else: while cutting her trousers, showing the hip that looked like it was made of two clumsily joined handles, a cardiac arrest occurred. She knew exactly what it was, because she and Pietro had never missed an episode of Doctor House, and here the various people gathered tried to revive her.

One of the paramedics wore a crucifix around her neck that touched her nose.

Why hadn't anyone ever told her that she had died during transportation? Did they think she was too young to know such a thing?

"Ready!" the other paramedic shouted, and just before the electrostimulation, the driver turned and Wanda saw that he was one of the scientists who years later would introduce her to Strucker. How long had they been keeping an eye on her?

Then they fired a volley ... and her body jumped. And although Wanda didn't have a body outside, she still received electricity, a hot blow that ignited the tree of her nervous system.

The part of her on the stretcher wriggled like a fish out of the water, then subsided.

The paramedic slumped behind looked at the monitor and said: "Nothing, try again."

And when the other performed the action, a clean cut took place in the vision and she found herself tied to a hospital bed. She was completely alone.

With difficulty, she pushed aside the covers and put her feet on the ground and, while feeling the points on her hip and on her belly pulling and tearing, pouring what must have been blood transfused along her leg, she crossed the room without limping, overcoming a ray of sunshine who cast a fleeting but very human shadow on the floor, and came to the door.

Unseen, she entered the corridor, passing a stretcher and two nurses. They didn't even notice her.

The corridor lights began to flicker.

Blood ran down her leg, the bottom of her pyjamas were red, but she felt no pain. She feared no kind of infection. She was safe, enclosed in her mind, and nothing could have hurt her.

She opened a sliding door ... and entered.

Another hospital room, complete with television ... and Ghidorah was waiting for her inside. Or rather, an image of Ghidorah's head. It wasn't even an image, it was too distorted, with indefinite outlines. Maybe some kind of projection.

Scarlet Witch didn't have time to dwell on the thing, since, just two seconds after her arrival, the creature began to speak.

"Greetings, Wanda Maximoff. It's a pleasure to meet you in person", the beast said.

The voice, though powerful, was mild. The voice of something that brought death, calm as the ice of a lake when the wind blows over it.

The former Avenger looked around, swallowing hard.

"Where am I?" she asked with a low voice. At the same time, Ghidorah seemed to smile at her.

"You know very well where you are", it replied with a background of fun.

And yes, Wanda definitely had an idea by now. They were in her mind. Or, at least, in a representation of her unconscious.

The young woman clenched both hands into fists, staring intently into the hydra's intangible eyes. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Who is Vision?" the beast asked**. **It didn't receive any answer.

"See?" it said with a mocking tone. "We both ask questions that the other doesn't want to answer. Let's just forget it, shall we? We put them aside like the spare cards of that game of yours ... what's its name?"

"The spare cards of the cribbage", Wanda replied, walking slowly to the opposite wall of the room and suspiciously peering at the floating head. It wasn't attached to anything, not even to a neck. It was all muzzle, jaws, teeth and horns.

"Where are you from?" she asked, after having circumnavigated the whole of that projection.

"From planet X", was the dragon's answer. "We come from an endangered planet to eat pizza, buy on credit and learn French."

Wanda started. That ... was Pietro's voice. That monster was using his voice! But how the hell ...

"This world is really strange", Ghidorah continued, readjusting its own language ... only that, as Wanda noted with evident disbelief, the voice of the thing had become that of Wanda herself. All that was going on ... was some kind of mega hallucination, now she knew it.

Once she had achieved that realization, the room vibrated with many red roots. They grew on the floor, on the windowsill, on the Venetian blinds. They spread on the lamp and along the ceiling, on the glucose bottle, on the perch beside the bed.

Small scarlet bars hung from the handle of the bathroom door and from the crank to operate the mechanism to adjust the inclination of the bed. Ghidorah's floating head ... was now gone, as if it had never been there.

Wanda turned to the room exit ... and stopped. A cold shiver ran through her spine.

In front of her, a figure more than five feet tall began to make her way out of the darkness.

The figure stepped forward, spreading its limbs. A pair of red eyes opened, twinkling briefly, and stopped on her, forcing her to take a step backwards.

Wanda would have recognized those appearances everywhere. It was the same unstoppable, invincible and insensitive Ultron responsible for so many deaths and so many risks that she and the Avengers had faced in the past.

An artificial intelligence created for the protection of the world. Seeing humanity itself as the root of every problem, he had identified extinction as the only possible option for preserving such coveted peace.  
**  
**When she last saw him inside a train, she blew his chest open. All in all, it had been a big deal. Any human would die ... but not a creature like him. And now the homicidal android's chest looked fine: cybernetic medicine had made great strides, she thought ironically.

The robot raised a hand in a kind of weak greeting. The limb had five fingers, ending in claws, from which a red substance dripped. Probably blood, or maybe just oil.

"Hi, Wanda", he said with his unmistakable metallic voice, an echo of death mixed with the scratching sound of a radiator just turned on.

Scarlet Witch took several steps backwards, while the android sat comfortably on the hospital bed.

"This is impossible", the woman whispered, receiving an amused smile from the machine. She had forgotten how expressive this thing could be, despite not being human.

"Only if you think it is", Ultron replied, conspiratorially.

At that moment, a small figure pawed on the floor of the room, causing the woman to stumble.

The intruder climbed up on the bed, to the figure of the android, revealing itself for what it was: a miniature version of those fleas that Wanda had fought until a few seconds before.

The little beast crouched between Ultron's legs, who began to caress it almost with affection.

"The Itsy Bitsy Spider", Wanda's mind whispered, remembering that old song that her mother always sang to her as a child.

Panicked, she turned to the door ... but it was gone, replaced by a spotless white wall.

The young woman screamed in anger and slammed a fist on the plasterboard wall, producing no visible damage. Then, she turned her head towards a visibly amused Ultron.

"You ... you're dead. I saw you die", she hissed through clenched teeth.

The android merely shrugged, a movement that caused a groan of displeasure from the flea.

"By now you should have understood, love", he said mockingly. "You can't kill me. I am inevitable ... like taxes!"

Then, he indicated Scarlet Witch with a dramatic gesture, his red eyes flashing in the twilight of the room. "I'll always be there for you."

"Get out of my head!" Wanda cried, unleashing a wave of scarlet energy.

However, both Ultron and the flea remained completely unaffected by that display of power, and even the room came out immaculate.

The robot simulated a genuinely surprised expression.

"Now, why should I do that? We have so much time to recover! But how should we spend it?" he muttered almost to himself, while the arthropod began to chuckle.

After what seemed like an endless time, the machine snapped the fingers of his right hand, splashing small drops of blood (oil?) On the mattress of the bed. "I got an idea! We will watch television together."

"I don't want ..."

"There's a movie that I would like to see. You will like it too. It's called 'I Have No Strings!'. Itsy Bitsy, the remote control!"

The flea gave Wanda a particularly hostile look, then paw on the pillow with a rasping noise. On the bedside table there was a remote control covered in dust.

Itsy Bitsy caught it between its teeth, turned and crawled back to Ultron, who grabbed it and pointed it at a television that appeared out of nowhere.

On the screen, visible although clouded by the roots that covered the glass, the image of Sokovia appeared.

A titanic battle was taking place in the centre of the screen. Hundreds of robots as tall as a man who raged through the streets of the city, fighting against the Avengers. And even before the door of a home opened and Wanda saw herself come out with her hands illuminated in red, it was clear to her that those events had already occurred.

In the background it started playing 'I've Got No Strings', directly from the 1943 Pinocchio movie made by Disney.

"Well", Ultron commented, speaking from the centre of Wanda's brain. "We missed the opening titles, but the movie has just begun."

This is exactly what Wanda feared. "Please ..." the young woman whined. "I ... I don't want ... I don't want to see it again."

"Shush", Ultron ordered, and Itsy Bitsy showed its terrible teeth, as if to suggest her not to be rude. "I love this song. Do you like it?"

"How can I like it?" she asked, ignoring the flea's grin, which, as they both knew, posed no real danger to her.

"It was the song you sang while you ... you ..."

"Shut up and watch the movie", the robot ordered abruptly, making her jump. "The beginning is a bit slow, but later it improves!"

Wanda put her hands on her lap and looked at 'I Have No Strings'.

And then ... the moment that she had tried to forget for so many years. Clint Barton, who grabbed a defenceless child in his arms ...

"No ... no ..."

Pietro Maximoff, her brother, who ran towards the man, while the Quinjet flew at full speed towards them ...

"Pietro!"

Ultron activated the aircraft's weapons, which fired on all three. Pietro saved Clint and the child ... dying in the attempt.

Wanda raised a hand to her mouth to hold back a desperate scream, as copious tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Pietro ..." she whispered softly, while the room began to change once again.

She looked up at Ultron and jumped back. Now, the android looked like some sort of failed genetic experiment. Partly robot ... part Ghidorah, whose head had replaced that of the murderous machine. Itsy Bitsy pawed on its shoulders, rubbing its long jaws on the dragon's horns.

The hospital room was replaced by a seemingly endless black void.

"It must be really frustrating to be caged like a cricket in a limited mind", Ghidorah commented, then snapped the fingers of its right hand.

That world of nothing and darkness gave way to hundreds of images. Moving pictures depicting peoples, individuals ... diseases, poverty, wars ... death and pain. Humanity.

"They believe to think. They don't have a global vision, a total system, only vaguely similar patterns. They no longer have an identity", the hydra said, attracting Wanda's attention. "They launch themselves into the abysses by attaching themselves to a spider's web. And sometimes they make it, and because of that they are convinced that they have solved the problem! I could tell you a thousand tedious stories of the absurdity that characterizes you mortals, especially humans."

The monster gave the woman an evil smile, its red eyes flashing in the shadows. At the same time, Wanda's gaze rested on a specific scene. And, for a while, Scarlet Witch was tempted to run and not look back.

That was the testimony to her failure. The death of the Wakandan ambassadors, which as a consequence had led to the creation of the Sokovia Accords, and the consequent Civil War between superheroes.

She put both hands on her head and collapsed to her knees, while the cries of horror and pain of the witnesses echoed like gunshots inside her head. All under the amused eyes of Ghidorah.

"You are a single race, with the same goals, the same dreams, the same fears. Eat the same food, all sleep in the same way. So you have to find a way to differentiate yourself ... to justify you killing each other", it said vaguely disgusted, while its body began to change. "Borders, nations, neighbourhoods, religions, names, fashion. You would kill for a pair of shoes. Your leaders exploit you for their thirst for power, and you are happy to allow it, so that they can kill those who have decided that they are not like you."

Now, large wings had taken the place of the metallic arms, a long forked tail protruding from the back of the body, no longer metallic, but made of flesh, bones and golden scales. Three long heads started directly from the top of the bust, adorned with cruel and smiling faces.

"You are a race of fools", the middle head of Ghidorah ended coldly.

And as the sound of the screams grew louder ... the figure of Scarlet Witch began to tremble.

Red roots, like those in the hospital room, began to protrude from the darkness, wrapping around the young woman's defenceless body.

In front of her, the dragon smiled satisfied.

"Listen to me well, Wanda Maximoff: what you are feeling now is not death, it's life ... a new type of life. Free from pain", it hissed through its sharp fangs.  
The skin of the former Avenger was now completely covered with those tendrils. Her figure was completely immobile.

"Open your eyes Wanda. See, what I see. Feel, what I feel ..." the beast resumed, grinning maliciously. "And let's go howling at the moon... together."

And it was after the hydra uttered those words ... that Wanda's mind shattered.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

A grave silence passed through the entire Times Square.

Although Wanda had been trapped in her own mind for about an hour, in reality only a few seconds had passed in the outside world.

"Wanda, are you ok?" Quake asked, approaching the Scarlet Witch with an air of concern. Ghidorah was just few steps away from them, but was making no attempt to attack.

When the former Avenger began to slowly open her eyelids, what she revealed later, at the sight of the other superheroine, caused an intense shiver down the woman's spine.

No more red pupils, as they had been during the entire battle ... but yellow eyes like the sun, sometimes black and soulless, revelations of a new and fearful darkness.

Quake took a couple of steps backwards, while Wanda slowly turned to her, with almost mechanical movements.

At the same time, Ghidorah's middle head lowered to the ground, flanking the figure of Scarlet Witch.

"You've been given a precious gift. Freedom ... from your fears and ties", it whispered with a persuasive voice, snapping its forked tongue. "You can now see the infinite intelligence and salvation that I've brought. Are you ready to serve me?"

"Yes", the woman replied monotonously, making Daisy jump.

The smile on the dragon's face seemed to get bigger. "Are you ready to be an instrument of my will?"

"Yes", repeated Wanda, while her body began to glow with an intense red glow.

Ghidorah set its eyes on Quake, who took a step backwards.

"Then ... kill them. Kill them all!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM!**

**Yes, Wanda is now under Ghidorah's mind control ( like Lora in Mothra 3 ). I hope you liked the mental battle between her and our three headed dragon, and the Ultron cameo ( I love this guy , I just wanted to have him in the story ).**

**In the next chapter...Ghidorah will cause MASSIVE destruction!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's a new chapter****. ****I wish you a good read!**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

Jane Foster woke up suddenly, her ears hammered by a steady rhythmic whistle.

A clear vision came to her mind, like the memory of milk dripping on her father's chin or her ex-assistant, Darcy, who was running away from the studio after stealing a donut, as if she had rockets on her feet.

She saw the soldiers who had accompanied her, Selvig and the rest of the scientists who perished while they were trying to escape from a beast that had come straight out of the maze of hell. She saw the snow stained with their entrails.

Jane straightened her back, saw fresh blood on the palm of her hand and screamed, trying in every way to get it off her. In doing so, she left a sumptuous red stripe on her clothes.

She began to look around, her face adorned with a terrified expression.

The clearing was practically burnt.

Nothingness. No crows, no jays, no spikes or squirrels. Only the wind could be heard and, occasionally, the muffled plop of a small layer of snow falling from the branches. The local wildlife was gone, like a funny procession of animals from a cartoon.

Then, the memories of what had happened a few hours earlier came back to her all at once, with the same intensity as a running train.

Without wasting time, the woman began to walk towards the point where they had landed.

It was no longer snowing, but the sky was still dark and the wind seemed to be getting stronger. Hadn't the radio talked about a storm in two stages? She didn't remember, and it didn't really matter.

Somewhere in the west a huge roar rang out. Jane looked in that direction, but saw nothing, only large purple masses. The storm had gone away.

She crossed the border of the base camp, walking on the snow marked by the furrows of the military jeeps, and approached the main tent, the outside of which had almost completely collapsed due to the wind. The generator was buzzing, and the metal planks still standing were about to collapse.

Jane stopped to examine the instrumentation, mostly intact, although some antennas appeared to be burnt out. She expected worse.

She stayed where she was for a moment, trying to remember the arrangement of the equipment. Selvig would have been better than her - with his eyes closed, waving his index finger, he would have written everything down to the smallest details - but in this case Jane thought she could do without the skill of her now deceased friend. After all, she had also helped set up the tent. And most of the equipment in the base camp was bought personally by them with SHIELD funding.

But what really interested her was the location of the cell phone that belonged to the man, which as per textbook he had left in the room before they went to the meteorite. And knowing her friend, he was probably protected by the exact same password he had used since she had known him more than twenty years ago: Jeanne, the name of his last wife.

She turned on the detection equipment and, after nearly ten minutes of wandering around the tent, she was able to find the communication device. It had fallen to the ground, but looked in good conditions.

Jane entered the password. The intuition turned out to be correct, to her relief.  
After that, the woman began to scroll through the contacts. And it was at that very moment ... that the monitors in the tent began to flash red.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The Harlem neighbourhood was hardly new to unexpected changes.

In the 1920s, it was the centre where a black cultural movement called the Harlem Renaissance was born, which was a time of artistic productions such as jazz, whose shows were intended only for white people.

Harlem was also one of the first areas where street kids started dancing to the rhythm of hip hop songs.

During the period immediately following the end of the Second World War, the neighbourhood became a destination for many Hispanic-American immigrants. In a few years, also due to a sort of general period of decline of the area, it turned into a poor neighbourhood, with a high unemployment and crime rate.

After the years known as the most dangerous, the infamous and decadent area within the island of Manhattan began to alter its face, thanks above all to the will of its inhabitants, determined to change the situation in better.

A work that in recent years had been carried out by Luke Cage, now an official representative of the black population of New York.

They called him by many names: Power Man, the bulletproof man, or the protector of Harlem.

And as such, the superhuman had spent the last half hour fighting a herd of strange bugs that had started attacking the people of the neighbourhood like stray dogs. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly the way he expected to end the day.

"Do you still want to fight, peace of shit?!"  
**  
**Luke Cage approached one of the fleas, whipping a punch with the force of a locomotive.  
The giant insect staggered backwards, crashing into a metal fence like a missile on a bamboo screen. He shredded the canopy of an old sports car and finished its race against a minivan parked nearby.

Luke jumped after another flea, covering six meters with every leap he made.

"Come on!" he shouted. "You and me, little freak! That's what you wanted, right?"

He threw a motorcycle into the air and the animal was forced to jump backwards to avoid it.

A quartet of fleas grasped the hero's arms with their teeth. Luke didn't even get upset and shattered the jaws of the insects as if they were made of paper, throwing the bodies away.

Then, he tore off the axle of a vehicle and used it as a club. He twirled it around him, but one of the arthropods grabbed it at the end. A quick move and the steel bar broke against the man's face.

The insect leapt forward, landing it and preparing to bite Luke's head. However, just before it could do that, a black blur sent the animal straight against the window of a skyscraper.

Luke dilated his pupils in surprise, taking a step backward. At the same time, the figure of Jessica Jones landed in front of him with a leap, her face adorned with an amused smile.

"You've become slow", the woman commented.

"And you smell of alcohol", Luke replied, with a roll of his eyes.

It was typical of Jessica to try in every way to prick others at the first opportunity. One of the main reasons she didn't have many friends, but deep down he knew this was exactly what she was aiming for. That's why they broke up ...

Freeing the head of those thoughts, he realized that his old lover was not alone. Next to her was a guy slightly younger than her, with brown hair and very similar clothing.

"Who is he?" the protector of Harlem asked, pointing to the newcomer.

Jessica raised an eyebrow, glancing quickly at her drinking buddy. Had he really followed her this far? Honestly, she had almost forgotten about him, even though she did her best to hide it.

"Ford, Luke. Luke, Ford", she said after a moment of silence, pointing to the respective men.

"Hi", the young man greeted, while Luke just gave him a nod.

Then, the protector of Harlem turned his attention to Jessica.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"I was hoping you could explain that to me", she replied, crossing both arms in front of her chest.

The man let out a discontented sigh.

"I'm groping in the dark. The storm came about an hour ago, there was a roar, and then these things came out of nowhere", he said, pointing to the flea corpses he had killed.

Jessica assimilated the information in the back of her mind.

"Where did the roar come from?" she asked suddenly.

Luke seemed to think over it, before pointing to a specific part of the city.

"It seemed close to the centre. Times Square, probably", he said with a vaguely convinced tone.

Jessica turned her head towards Ford and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Do you have a place to go?" she asked seriously, while the guy blushed because of the proximity to the woman.  
**  
**He nodded quickly, receiving a satisfied smile from the detective.

"Then good luck", Jessica said, passing him and proceeding to head towards the centre of New York.

Ford stared at her incredulously. "Wait, and where are you going?"

"To Times Square", the detective replied, without even turning around.

Ford glanced quickly at Luke. He simply shrugged, as if he was used to the impulsive behaviour of that strange woman.

Then, without even giving the man time to argue, he started following her.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Quake held both hands forward, generating a mighty sonic wave that hit whatever it encountered in its path, from the cars to the road surface. Wanda did the same with her powers, and the two attacks met in mid-air.

The resulting shock wave spread to the top of the buildings that surrounded them, manifesting themselves in a shower of sharp glass and shards. Quake dodged backwards to avoid them, while the opponent simply summoned a telekinetic shield from above, which stopped the advance of falling debris.

"Wanda, I don't want to hurt you", Quake said, putting herself in a defensive position.

In response, Scarlet Witch's eyes flashed yellow. Then, the woman held her right hand forward, making a rapid movement with her wrist.  
At the same time, a total of four cars flew in the direction of Quake. The Avenger raised her arms and generated another sonic wave, reducing the vehicles to a pile of scrap metal.

She turned, just in time to put down a telekinetic punch by the adversary.

"Ok, bad choice of words", she muttered through clenched teeth, while her feet began to sink into the road surface.

Scarlet Witch didn't respond and began to target Quake with a flurry of kicks and punches, all accompanied by an intense red glow. Each of those strokes, combined with the woman's powers, were the equivalent of a racing bike, and Daisy was forced to appeal to every ounce of her strength to brake them.

"Wanda, that thing is controlling you!" she shouted, avoiding a punch that generated several cracks on the asphalt. "Wake up!"

But the Scarlet Witch remained silent, continuing to attack her as if she no longer wanted to do anything else.

At one point, Quake managed to grab her wrist, lowering her head and hitting her with a powerful straight kick to the stomach. The blow, combined with a weaker sound wave, sent the opponent against a bus that was about ten meters from the couple.

The impact pushed the vehicle towards a lamppost, destroyed its windows and deformed the aluminium cover.

Quake smiled satisfied. However, that victorious expression was very short-lived.

Wanda rose from the ground as if nothing had happened, surrounded by an intense red aura. Around her, debris and pieces of metal began to twirl like plastic bags.  
The Avenger swallowed hard.

"Er ... sorry?" she said with an embarrassed tone.

And then, Wanda threw the bus at her, sending her to the adjacent neighbourhood.

A little further on, Ghidorah was looking at the fight with an amused air.

Internally, it found itself impressed by the fighting skills and power of that Wanda Maximoff. Perhaps, after completing what it had come to this dirty planet for, it would have brought her with it. A preventive workforce, like those parasites that followed it like flies.

But this was certainly not the time to dwell on such thoughts. With the defenders of the Earth now occupied, the moment it had awaited had finally come.  
"Are you ready, my brothers?" the middle head asked, facing the other two.

The right one nodded resolutely, while the left head chuckled enthusiastically, snapping its forked tongue.

The middle head smiled satisfied. Then the dragon spread both its wings.

The storm that hovered over New York seemed to grow in intensity, while numerous thunder and lightning bolts began to flash from everywhere, enveloping buildings, people and anything that was so unfortunate to be on their way.

"Here comes the thunder", the monster whispered, releasing a roar from another world. A cry that seemed to come from the darkest meanders of hell itself, accompanied by the cold laughter of the reaper.

And as the earth began to tremble ... the beast let out a war cry that rang throughout the length of that now devastated city.  
"We are the storm! We are ... **DEATH**!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

To better understand what would have happened on the whole planet shortly after, a little science lesson is needed first.

Basically, it is possible to say that the Earth is made up of three essential parts. Starting from the inside, in fact, we have the Core containing iron and nickel, which constitutes the main component of the Earth's Gravitational Field.

Then the mantle wraps it, which has a very high viscosity, and finally the outermost layer, known as Crust.  
The most superficial part of the mantle and the crust constitute what is defined as the lithosphere, which in turn flows over a partially melted layer of the underlying mantle called the asthenosphere.

Then there are two types of crust: the continental one, which is thick (about 30 km deep), and the oceanic one, which is thinner than the previous one but heavier (about 10 km deep).

The Lithosphere, however, is not a unique and continuous envelope, but is made up of several pieces that interact with each other. In fact there are diverging margins, where two pieces, or rather two plates, diverge. And near these areas, known as the mid-ocean ridges, new crust is produced continuously due to the rise and subsequent solidification of the mantle below, which dates back along this chasm.

In addition to these margins, there are also those defined as convergent where, on the contrary, the two plates collide like those electric machines typical of city fairs.

When an oceanic plate collides with a continental one, the oceanic plate will always end badly, while the continental one will be saved. In the case of two oceanic plates ... one of the two will sink, generating a sudden displacement of warm water towards the surface of the sea and leading to the creation of so-called anomalous waves, or tsunamis.

Put simply, when the new crust is born it is very light, and like all young people it thinks to be immortal. Unfortunately, sooner or later the age begins to make itself felt and the poor unfortunate crust becomes colder and denser, so much so that the underlying mantle on which it flows can no longer support it, and therefore goes 'in subduction'.

Near mid-ocean ridges, precisely at the point where the plates subduct, in contact with the rocks of the crust, seawater can enter, and this causes their alteration.  
The altered rocks become hydrated, and when they reach a certain depth (due to the sinking plate) they release the water they contained, letting it flow in the mantle in which they are immersed.

In doing so, the coat hydrates, and its melting point is lowered, thus generating the phenomena of magmatism eruptions and seismic shocks.

The Pacific Rim was one of the main outlet points for this phenomenon, 'decorated' by volcanic systems and earthquakes that illuminated the subducting oceanic plate, forming the so-called Ring of Fire. But these environmental disasters were limited to rather isolated areas, and didn't pose a danger to local populations.

All this was possible thanks to the Earth's Gravitational Field, which prevented the plates from floating on the mantle and continually changing the planet's external structure.  
But when Ghidorah launched that defiant roar, exactly at 6:00 pm in New York City, it didn't do it just to show off. No, because the monster began to change the gravity of the planet it had chosen as its next meal, with devastating consequences.

All over the world a disaster was underway. Suddenly the decomposed hydrates of methane present in the North Seas – that until recently were stable ice extensions that slipped into the bottom sediments - collapsed on themselves.

For a stretch of one hundred and fifty kilometres, the frozen bond of water and methane turned into an explosion of gas.

While seismographs all over the world recorded the landslide of the various escarpments, magma opened its way to freedom, blowing up the vertical walls, tearing pieces of rock, making the whole planet tremble like a pressure cooker. And the tectonic plates began to float.

Within seconds, kilometres of debris and lava collapsed.

In a monstrous chain reaction, the masses slipped on each other, breaking through the last still solid structures and turning them into mud.

The Ring of Fire, with its hundreds of external and submarine volcanoes, exploded with a cacophony of explosions equal to 2000 atomic bombs fired simultaneously by the stratosphere.

Millions of tons of mud, magma and rubble collapsed on the borders of the other plates.

When the first offshoots of the magma reached California, on the seismic fault between Los Angeles and San Francisco, there were no more barriers, but there was only a free mass that precipitated more and more, devastating everything that had shape and structure just a few seconds before.

Part of the plate headed west, and finally stopped against the benches surrounding the Pacific plate, destroying both cities with an earthquake of at least 9.8 degrees on the Richter scale, the largest ever recorded in human memory.

In Norway, part of the Salvina was divided along the rise between Iceland and the European continent. Most, however, advanced on the canal between the United Kingdom and Shetlands, like a giant slide. Nothing managed to stop it, which resulted in numerous tsunamis.

In Indonesia, the situation was even worse. The same abyssal basin that thousands of years before had welcomed the birth of the Mariana Trench, was now filling up with tons and tons of magma and methane that had come out of the seabed, which were moving unstoppable upwards at an unimaginable speed.

At the same time, the Continental Hoof collapsed. It was simply torn away over a hundred kilometres wide. And this also led to the eruption of Mount Fuji, Japan.  
In less than 30 minutes, at least 10 million people had already died.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Inside the SHIELD D base in Nevada, the situation was certainly not the best.

The various screens that made up the command headquarters began to glow red, while the ground beneath everyone's feet began to tremble.

The alarms sounded like if they went crazy, while sparks and pieces of concrete fell from the ceiling.

"What the hell is going on?!" Fury exclaimed, keeping to the edges of the tactical table to avoid falling.

Beside him, Maria was not doing better.

"We don't know, sir! Seismic shocks have been detected all over the world!" the woman said, starting to slide the laptop she held in her hands. "Tokyo, Los Angeles, Beijing, Rome, Hawaii ... they are everywhere!"

The man started to ask for more information, but at that precise moment the phone in his jacket pocket started ringing. A low and rhythmic music, like the one used by the first satellite phones of the 90s.

He knew the number that was calling him: it belonged to Erik Selvig, the head of the scientific section of SHIELD.

Without wasting time, Fury brought the device to his right ear, plugging the other to block the cacophony of sounds and screams that was echoing throughout the room. "Selving?"

"Fury, thank goodness!" a very familiar voice answered on the other end of the line. And it didn't belong to Selvig.

"Doctor Foster?" he asked incredulously. "Why do you have Selvig's phone?"

"Selvig is dead, sir", the woman said, surprising the spy.

"How did it happen?"

"We had been sent to investigate a meteor that fell in Alaska and ... and ... I don't know, something attacked the base camp, killed Selvig ..."

"This 'thing' seemed by chance to come directly from the Hobbit?" Fury interrupted her.

There was a short pause.

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say that it's not shy at all", the man muttered, glancing quickly at the screens and alarms on the base.

He heard the woman swallowing on the other end of the line.

"It doesn't matter, I didn't call you for this. Do you know what's going on all over the world?"

"A 4D version of 2012? Yes, we noticed it", Fury sarcastically replied. At that precise moment, a strong seismic shock struck the building, and the Director found himself on the ground.

The man cursed, while Jane started talking again.

"I think I know the cause."

"Explain", Fury ordered, using the table to get up. He noticed that Maria had managed to keep up despite the power of the impact. God, he was getting old.

"Whatever that monster is ... I think it's reversing the gravity of the planet. My instruments are detecting gravitational lines that start directly from the meteorite and reach New York, wrapping the entire planet like a net. And this is causing a reversal of the polarity of the Earth's Gravitational Field, with consequent landslide of the plates that make up the Crust. And it's only the beginning!"

"And what will happen once it has completed the work?" the director asked, with a background of resignation.

The answer came quickly ... and predictable.

"The earth will collapse on itself… and nothing will remain of us but dust in the void of space."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The tsunami generated by the landslide of the Pacific plate travelled at first in all directions at a speed that reached seven hundred kilometres per hour, with very long and low ridges. Only the first wave carried a million tons of water and a corresponding amount of energy.

After a few minutes, it reached the edge of the continental shelf.

The seabed, which became more flat, slowed the wave and slowed down its front, without however reducing the energy transported. The masses of water continued to push forward and, as the speed had decreased, they began to overlap. The lower the seabed became, the more the tsunami rose, while the length of its waves shrank dramatically.

The waves of a storm rode on their crests. By the time the tsunami reached the first drilling platforms on the North American mainland, the speed had dropped to four hundred kilometres per hour, but it had become fifty meters high.

Fifteen meters were not enough to worry these structures excessively. At least as long as it was normal storm waves.

But the waves that spread from the Pacific seabed to the surface of the water, accompanied by mountains of debris, had the impact effect of a jumbo jet and detached them from the foundations.

A few minutes later, the wave reached the Alaskan coast, high enough to cross the tree line.

Jane, who still had Selvig's cell phone in her ear, saw the huge body of water proceeding relentlessly in her direction.

"Oh my God", she whispered with a low voice, dropping the communication device.

For those who lived near the sea, a tsunami was a real nightmare. If the earth shook, control was usually lost. The material was deformed and torn. There were mass escapes and fires. If an earthquake made a city vibrate, one could only hope that nothing worse happened, that the seabed would not sink and collapse, that the buildings anchored to the ground would hold up.

But immediately after the shock there was another problem against which there was nothing to do. Just nothing. And that problem was reaching the meteorite impact site at a speed of three hundred kilometres per hour.

Jane saw it approach and understood that there was no more hope. She turned and fled the area like a hare.

It all happened quickly.

She stumbled and fell because of the ground made slippery by the storm. Instinctively she clung to a broken trunk.

An infernal noise exploded behind her, a series of roars and rumble, as if the world around her was about to collapse.

She felt the first drops of water wet her face ... the air flowing through her hair ... the whipping of the wind ...Wait ... the wind?

Why wasn't she drowning? The wave was just a few meters away from her, she should have been underwater by now. Perhaps the power of the impact had killed her instantly. Was she already dead? But then why could she feel cold?

She opened his eyes ... and stopped. She was in the arms of a man she thought she would never see again.

Thor Odinson had shorter hair than she remembered, and the thick golden beard with which she had known him with was now dark and shabby, stained by time. What remained unchanged were the eyes, blue like the sky itself.

Looking down she realized that they were flying. The tsunami had completely submerged the area, and now the immense mass of salt water was carrying tree trunks and debris below them.

She huddled around the body of the Asgardian, trying not to think of all those poor people who were in the surrounding villages, probably all dead. There was no escaping from a disaster of this magnitude.

Then the woman heard a low and rhythmic hiss, followed by a moan and the sound of bulkheads being opened. Like a plane about to embark.

A few seconds later, both she and Thor passed through the opening of an aircraft, finding themselves on a bridge.

The god released her gently, allowing her to take a few steps back. Then, the astrophysicist looked up at her saviour.

"Jane", Thor greeted, his face adorned with a placid smile.

Her reaction was instantaneous.

"Thor!" she exclaimed happily, jumping on the man and wrapping both arms around his neck. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you like in this moment!"

Initially surprised, the Asgardian affectionately returned the gesture. At least until he heard a loud cough behind him.

Both quickly broke away from each other.

Nebula was the one who made that sound, and was flanked by the rest of the guardians.  
**  
**Jane quickly became aware of their rather bizarre features, but didn't dwell too much on it. After all, she had read their files like any member of SHIELD.

"So, don't you want to introduce me to your friends?" she asked hesitantly, noting that the blue alien was staring at her much more intensely than the others.

"Who is she?" Nebula said at the same time, narrowing her eyes in Thor's direction.

Unaware of the tense atmosphere that hovered in the cabin, the god of thunder merely patted the back of the astrophysicist.

"My companions, this is Jane, an old friend."

"Ex girlfriend", she added, with an embarrassed smile.

Thor chuckled as Nebula's right hand moved much closer to the knife she carried in her belt. Quill was the only one to notice, and took a few steps away from the cyborg.

"Yeah, a kind of girlfriend", the Asgardian agreed, giving Jane an affectionate smile.

The woman blushed intensely.

Nebula seemed ready to launch her out of the ship, but was promptly stopped by Rocket's voice.

The raccoon had a holographic tablet in his hands, with rusty edges, but still functional.

"If you are done with the competition of looks ..." the genetic experiment said, showing the screen of the device to the group, "I think I've located our giant friend."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Like most cities in North America, New York was not located near any seismic zone. For this reason, the effects caused by the sudden landslide of the various plates were minimal, even if the metropolis was still hit by a shock strong enough to shake even the tallest skyscrapers.

Ghidorah observed the devastation caused with a satisfied smile. Then, closing their eyes, the three heads began to expand their telepathic field, the same one they had used a few minutes earlier to take control of Wanda's mind.

"Listen to me, inhabitants of this world", the middle head began, whose deep and malevolent voice was heard by every person or animal present on Earth. "This is a message, a message for every man, woman and child: you have lost yourselves, but I have come to you. The harvest day...has arrived."

He paused to allow its new audience to accept the extraneous presence within their minds.

"'Jormungand', 'Apophis', 'Ghidorah' ... they call me many names, in my long life. I was born from death! I was there to create the spark and feed the flame of the universe, to spin the wheel of countless civilizations. And when the forests were cleared to thrive again, I was there to set it on fire!" it exclaimed, baring its teeth in a chilling smile. "All your palaces, all your cities, all your skyscrapers and your temples will collapse ... and the dawn of a new liberation will rise from their ashes. And you will not be able to do anything to prevent what is coming."

The creature drank from the terror and dismay that it perceived from the minds it was touching, an indistinct mass of many small lights trapped in the void that was its cruel soul.

"This message has one reason, one reason only: to those with the greatest powers ... don't hinder me. For all of you ... the time to die has come", it whispered, ready to break the connection.

At that precise moment, a green blur appeared in the beast's vision, landing on the top of a building that was a few meters away. The three heads spun around, pointing in unison towards the newcomer.

It was the strangest human being they had ever seen. Small compared to them, of course, but at least three times the size of a normal human. And it was green as the grass of a freshly pruned field.

"No ... now it's time to **SMASH!**" Bruce Banner said, clapping both hands against each other.

And before Ghidorah could argue ... the Avenger known as the Hulk leapt into the air, hitting the monster.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM! I hope you liked it.**

**In the next chapter, Hulk vs Ghidorah. And yes, the power that Ghidorah is using to destroy the planet is from the anime version.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's a new chapter****. **

**The situation in Italy is really bad, but I was still able to finish it. Please, give me some love, I need it!**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

When Bruce Banner's fist collided with Ghidorah's body, convinced that his strength would break through the titan's skin with great ease, he found himself greatly surprised to discover that the scales of the beast were much more resistant than what he initially thought. And not only.

The creature's skin behaved like a spring, which absorbed all the residual energy caused by the impact, returning part of it as in a flashback.

However, the blow still had the desired effect. Ghidorah bounced backwards, landing with its tail in the Hudson River and taking along a frail bridge that with heroic determination had held up to that point under the pressure of the afternoon.

Bruce grunted in pain. During his previous clashes with the army, the weapons used by the military to fight him weren't even able to pass the superficial layer of his skin, and the great wave of energy emanating from the Gems had ended up simply burning his right arm. But this time the pain was overbearing, just like when he fought Thanos.

Ghidorah, meanwhile, used the hooked wings to remain anchored to the river bed, but it too was suffering the effects of that blow. The pain started from the belly, like a huge punch delivered by an opponent of its own size, and imposed itself across its entire body.

The muscle bundles ached and the bones creaked, while its vision became confused, but only for a second.

Dense rivers of saliva fell from its jaws, dripping mixed with blood into the clear water of the river.

The monster gritted its teeth and screamed with pure anger.

It got up with great difficulty, while hatred germinated in it at an exponential rate. It couldn't allow those miserable creatures to make fun of it. It had to eliminate them, now that it had reduced their strength to a minimum.

It shook its body to dry itself from the water that wet it from the knees and opened its jaws slightly, only to realize that it was no longer able to produce its electric beams. It snapped its tongue in annoyance. Evidently it had made too much use of them during the other battles, and now its body needed to recharge. It would take at least ten minutes.

No problem, it thought with renewed fury. It would have done it roughly.  
It contracted the deformed teeth in a choleric grimace, taking two short steps forward in the now increasingly murky water, and finding itself in front of the figure of the new opponent.

The green goliath was on top of the cornice of a small skyscraper, yet Ghidorah still managed to overcome it in height.

Bruce looked up at the huge silhouette of the creature, then hissed an apparently impressed whistle.

"Wow, you're really big", he said aloud, while the dragon stared at him with a furious glint in its eyes.

The Avenger took a brief look at the surrounding area. After doing that, he began scratching his head in an embarrassed way. "I'm sorry it took me so long, I got stuck in traffic."  
"Do you dare challenge me? Fool!" Ghidorah growled, lowering its middle head to the face of the new threat.

In response, Bruce just snorted.

"Yes, you are not the first to call me that", he muttered with an amused smile.

The action seemed to further irritate the dragon, who triggered its forked tongue. "I defeated all the warriors that your people sent to kill me, yet you persist in your attempts to face me. Why haven't you figured it out yet? You can't defeat me! You are only ants in the presence of a king!"

"Yeah, it's true, we are rather stubborn. It's one of our biggest flaws ... and an even greater strength", Bruce said, tightening both his eyelids.

"You need know this: the Avengers will not give up until they cannot breathe. So will everyone else. Me? I have a slightly different problem", he admitted, taking off his glasses and placing them on the corner of the building. "I feel like living in a world made of paper. I must always be careful not to break anything and not to hurt anyone. I can never afford to lose control, not even for a moment, or someone could die."

He took off his shirt and jacket, folding them and putting them near his glasses. All under the incredulous gaze of the middle head, while the other two stared at the man's actions with disdain and evident curiosity.

"But you are strong, aren't you?" Bruce asked, cracking his neck. "So, the great opportunity has finally come for me to let go ... and prove once and for all what my true power is."

After hearing these words, Ghidorah let out a low and grating growl, spreading the immense wings one more time a taking a defensive position. At the same time, Bruce held out his hands and slightly spread his legs.

"I haven't completely transformed myself for ten years. Honestly, I don't know what will happen", he said almost to himself, while Ghidorah's tail began to vibrate like that of a rattlesnake.

Then the man took a deep breath. "On the other hand ..."

**BOOM!**

The explosion caused by the release of energy was immense.

Just a hundred yards down the axis of roads leading to Central Park, a bright green spark flickered in the clouded sky, like lightning flashing upwards instead of towards the ground. A moment later, the titanic explosion ripped through the centre of the storm like a lantern.

The resulting shock wave erased first the building on which Bruce had been up until a few seconds earlier, then the trees adjacent to the neighbourhood, and then much of the road.

The various survivors who were in the area began to scream, but were never able to hear themselves because of the devastating and progressive roar caused by the sudden release of ten years of repressed anger, mixed with gamma energy.

Most people covered their eyes and staggered back, trampling on other civilians and dropping everything they held in their hands.

Then, the green light began to clear ... and the figure of Bruce Banner came out of it.

Although he seemed mostly the same as before, Ghidorah still managed to notice some substantial differences. The man's black hairs, for example, had grown longer, and went up to his shoulders.

His musculature had become more pronounced, covered with veins, and the skin was illuminated by a faint glow, like a Plutonium bar. And then there were the eyes: no longer brown, but a pair of green emeralds, mixed with red capillaries.

Hulk raised his right hand.

The Avenger's muscles produced high-pitched noises of contraction, when his fingers tightened on each other so vehemently that they could almost solidify the air.  
His body wrapped in an aura of pure power that he would soon unload on Ghidorah with the force of a cataclysm.  
**  
**He smiled, showing pale teeth, and took a deep breath.

"Hulk ... SMASH!"

He jumped towards the dragon and beat him in the chest, throwing it away from the street, and then down towards the lower part of the neighbourhood, where the ruined remains of the city were untangling.

Like a ram that nothing on Earth could have stopped, the green goliath made another leap against the body of the hydra, hitting it with all the weight of its mass.

The energy of the impact was absorbed instantly by the monster's skin, crossing its thick layers - the result of millions of years of evolution - like a tidal wave ready to overwhelm anything in its range of action.

Further down, the squadron of policemen led by George Stacy, New York Commissioner, saw the over one hundred and fifty meters of the immense Ghidorah fall upon them, when they were now about to complete the evacuation of the neighbourhood.

"Oh, shit ...get these people out of here!" he swore loudly, dispersing with the other policemen**,** trying to avoid the trajectory of the body.

Then, they watched the dragon land on its back, two hundred meters from their position.

"My God!" an office exclaimed, who, along with his superior, had chosen that specific building as a shelter. "Sir ... w-what do we do now?"

Both had their eyes frozen on the huge mass lying on the ground, which seemed to be suffering greatly from the roughness of the fall.

Shortly thereafter, Hulk landed on the beast's body, raising a dense cloud of dust and debris that fired upwards like a firecracker.

The police captain studied the surrounding area, and a little further up recognized the Deus Ex Machina of that unexpected development, and ... he couldn't believe it.

"Well, boy. It would seem that they have just put us on the bench", he concluded, resigning himself to the evidence.

Ghidorah got up from the ground, shaking off the rubble of the buildings that had tried in vain to stop its advance.

The three heads hissed in unison, while the figure of Hulk landed in front of them with a roar.

"Hulk smash stupid dragon!" the green goliath said, slamming both fists against each other.

Ghidorah spread its wings like a cobra's hood, waving its tail like a rattle.

Then it began to run, exhibiting a speed that could never be attributed to it. It ran, while releasing its battle cry, and leaning its heads forward, ready to break through the last defence erected by the inhabitants of that planet.

Some passersbys shouted. Others covered their eyes and took refuge in their last, senseless prayers, while Hulk also began a daring charge towards the opponent.

The most deluded - those who still believed they had hope - tried to escape in the most casual directions, but if their rational minds, asphyxiated by the blind instinct for survival, could have expressed themselves, they would almost certainly have told them to give up. At that speed, they would never leave the area in time.

And when the two monsters met in mid-air, the resulting shock wave shattered every window within a radius of at least three kilometres. 

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

In the power plant, the radio was broadcasting a classical music program on FM.

The music was 'Janacek's Sinfonietta'. Not exactly the most suitable music to hear in a building of that type. And besides, not even the local keeper seemed to listen to it too carefully.

The middle-aged man was busy watching in silence the endless line of machinery in front of him, like a skilled fisherman who, standing in the bow, scrutinizes a threatening eddy of currents.

When, sunk in the chair he used for occasional breaks, he listened to the music with slightly narrowed eyes.

At that precise moment, a loud **clang! **attracted his attention.

He saw the door he had entered while it was unhinged and thrown directly against the opposite wall of the room. Shortly thereafter, Spiderman's figure stepped into the wing, holding Captain Marvel in his arms.

"Well, this is something that is not seen every day", the man thought, while the superhero walked towards him.

"Where is the generator of the plant?" Peter asked, panting, receiving an arched eyebrow in return.

"Do you have permission to stay here? This is a reserved area", the guard said with a bored voice. Superheroes or not, he would continue to do his job. After all, he certainly didn't want to be fired because of simple negligence or favouritism.

Carol looked up, tightening both eyelids.

"He asked you a question", she said coldly.

The man, however, merely shrugged, taking a walkie-talkie out of his pants pocket. "And I repeat to you that this is a reserve area ..."

He didn't have time to finish the sentence.

The woman, still supported by Spiderman, reached out with a quick jerk and grabbed the collar of the guard, pulling him towards her.

"I want to be kind", she growled through clenched teeth, while her eyes began to light up with an intense golden glow. "I will count to five. One ... Four ..."

**"**If I were you…well, I would do what she says", Spiderman said with a shrug.**  
****  
**The man swallowed in fear.

"R-right there", he said pointing to a well-defined corridor to the right of the couple. Above the entrance stood a sign with the word _DANGER_ written on it.

The frown on Carol's face was quickly replaced by an accommodating smile.

"Thanks for your cooperation", she said pleasantly, letting go the guard and patting his head.

Peter began to walk towards their new destination, his arms tightly wrapped around his lover's body.

"Did you really need to scare him like that?" he asked nervously.

Carol just looked at him impassively.

"We are a bit in a hurry", she said with vaguely sarcastic tone, pointing with her free hand to her battered figure. Internally, Peter found himself in agreement with the woman's words.

After almost a minute, they reached the room where the main generator of the building was located, a huge jumble of wires and machinery connected to a control panel.  
"Well, here we are", the vigilante declared.

At that precise moment, Carol lost her grip on her companion's shoulders and collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.**  
**  
Peter's lenses widened in surprise and terror.

"Carol!" he shouted, crouching next to the woman and hoisting her head in his lap. Her mouth was stained with blood and the bruises clearly visible in the tattered parts of the suit had started to become more evident.

"Tear that cable ... and pass it to me", the superheroine whispered, indicating a large plastic tube that started directly from the generator panel.

Peter nodded quickly, gently placed the blonde's head on the floor of the room and ran to the generator.

Once there, he grabbed the cable with both hands and took a deep breath.

"Please, be careful", Carol muttered behind him, which made the boy smile. She was the one on the verge of death, yet she continued to worry about him. Sometimes, that woman could be really stubborn…another thing that they had in common.

"I will do my best not to be electrocuted", the vigilante replied ironically, appealing to all the strength he had in his body to separate the tube from the panel.

Sparks and electric discharges began to scamper at the exact point where the cable had been cut. Peter did his best to keep it away, although he still managed to sense the static electricity running through his suit.

He walked to Carol and lay the tube next to her.

She wasted no time and grabbed it with her right hand. Then, she brought it to her chest.

The reaction was practically instantaneous.

The woman arched her back and hissed as a huge amount of electricity ran through her body. At the same time, the blonde's figure began to light up, more and more intensely.

"Close your eyes!" she screamed, and Peter did just that.

A few seconds later, a flash of immense power enveloped the entire neighbourhood like a blanket made of pure light, illuminating the darkness of the storm. 

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Hell's Kitchen now looked like a ghost neighbourhood, since all the inhabitants had found refuge or had been evacuated. There was no longer a living soul on the streets.

In the middle of that empty city, only two vehicles moved between the street lights. These were the vans that the local police was using to evacuate the prisons of the various districts.

Inside those cars with sparkling headlights, criminals with malicious eyes stared at each other, as if to wait a secret signal to start a well-designed plan.  
One of them suddenly shouted, falling painfully from the seat.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" one of the escort agents - who were with the prisoners on the back of the van – asked . And immediately they bent down to help the man to get up.

Under normal circumstances, they probably would never have fallen for such a trick. However, the arrival of Ghidorah and the situation in general had made them scared and unwary beyond measure.

"Now!"

The criminals, who until then had been calm, suddenly shot and stole the guns from the holsters of the two policemen, hitting them violently with the crates. They pulled out the keys to the handcuffs, hung on the couple's belts, and after about a minute they were all free.

Kicking open the back door, the prisoners leapt away, rolling on the ground and scattering in all directions.

On hearing suspicious noises coming from the back of the van, the policeman behind the wheel braked abruptly and stopped the vehicle, producing a loud squeak on the wet road. He opened the door and jumped out.

"Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!" he screamed, noting the silhouettes of prisoners that stood out in the light of the street lamps. Above them, the storm caused by Ghidorah continued relentlessly.

The policeman fired a few warning shots at the fugitives.

One of the prisoners, hit in the leg, fell forward. The others vanished immediately, hiding in the alleys.

The siren of a patrol car rang out on the street. Some criminals sprawled their hands in surrender. At the same time, the lights of the steering wheel illuminated the figures of three prisoners intent on escaping into the side alleys.

"Stop, you!"

The various agents, divided into groups, and began to chase them.

The three fugitives, running at breakneck speed, spotted a car parked in front of a gas station. It was loaded with jerry cans and carried a yellow flag on the top that waved in the storm.

They entered quickly in the middle and, after tinkering with the wires placed under the steering wheel, they started the engine and started at full speed.

"Damn!" the first policeman who arrived on the spot exclaimed, stamping his foot on the ground with frustration, as he saw them go away.

However, the rush of the criminals was very short-lived.  
**  
**The policeman heard the shot of a firearm and the sound of a wheel tire bursting. The car swerved to the side. Slipping on the wet road, the wheels screeched deafeningly.  
Gasoline spread all around, and something created friction with the asphalt igniting a trail of sparks.

It all happened in an instant.

The prisoners' car stood out in the dark like a fiery meteor, and - as fast as a bullet - it crashed into a wall. The explosion of the fuel cans lifted the vehicle in mid-air, causing a large column of flames to skyrocket.

The gasoline spilled from the car, wrapped in a hot flash, set the cans on fire and, in seconds, a second crimson red flame gushed in the night sky.

The young policeman gave a start and took a step backwards. He turned and felt his breath cut in his throat.

In the middle of the blanket of fog, with a plush gait turned towards him, there was a man of massive build, wearing a black leather jacket and an equally dark shirt, on which a pale skull was drawn.

The scarred face, marked by hard battles over the years, had a serious and impassive expression. In his right hand he carried a sawn-off shotgun, and in his left hand a small automatic machine gun.

Like any other policeman in New York, the young officer would have recognized that individual even in a crowd. There was no doubt! He was Frank Castle ... also known as the Punisher.

When the man was younger, and not yet a death machine raging through the slums of New York, his wife and children were taken away from him. This event prompted him to become the Punisher, a man determined to eradicate street crime in all its forms.

But as stated, this happened many years ago, and in the great universal design it wasn't even noteworthy.

"Don't move!" the officer ordered, pointing his gun in the man's direction. After all, he was still a vigilante wanted by the law and had just committed a triple murder in front of him.

Frank didn't seem to hear him. He kept walking, raised his rifle and, before the policeman could pull the trigger in his weapon, he fired a shot that hit something behind the man.

The officer heard an animal screech, which made him turn around.

A few steps away from him, now lay the dying body of a strange insect as big as a dog. From the exact spot where Frank had hit him, a strange green liquid was leaking, probably its blood.

"Oh my God", the agent murmured.

At that precise moment, he noticed a series of shadows that began to crawl vertically from the walls of the buildings.

The man swallowed hard, while the fleas fell on the road surface like leaves in the wind, showing their sharp teeth and growling in his direction.

The warden was so focused on those horrible beasts that he didn't notice that Castle had stopped right next to him.

"You should go home, boy", he said with a low and authoritarian voice, making the policeman jump.

The man briefly passed his gaze from the vigilante to the army of insects, before attempting a quick run in the opposite direction.

Frank snorted contemptuously and reloaded his weapons. At the same time, the fleas leapt forward.

"This must be my lucky day", the man muttered.

Just a few seconds later, a cacophony of shots rang throughout Hell's Kitchen, attracting the attention of a distinct figure dressed in red. 

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The devastating battle between Ghidorah and the Hulk had been going on for nearly twenty minutes, and their battlefield had expanded to destroy without no effort even the Chrysler Building.

The fight seemed to have been temporarily set aside, while the huge three-headed monster was intent on targeting the opponent with repeated bundles of electric beams.  
Hulk began to throw whatever it came within his range - from the cars to the larger trucks - against the dragon, aiming at what his primitive mind suggested to him were the alien's weak points.

The hydra, standing in the crimson flames, continued to target the Avenger stubbornly.

Hulk dodged the final blow and launched himself against Ghidorah.

The frightening struggle between the two monsters came to pass over the city subway, near the place where numerous civilians had hidden. Many of them held their breath as the most frightening battle that ever took place in that city continued above them.

The two creatures, continuing to target each other, ended up falling into the Hudson River once again.

The ceiling of the subway collapsed, and the water of the canal poured into it with a tremendous roar.

An immense mass of water headed for the fugitives, dragging chairs and wagons with them. With desperate cries, people were sucked in by the current, which also uprooted the tracks in a single instant.

Meanwhile, between the waters of the river, the battle between titans proceeded relentlessly.

The Hulk leapt in mid-air until he found himself in front of Ghidorah's middle head. His huge fists rang out on the face of the beast.

Finally, he pulled a knee between his teeth, moving his skull several meters.

The dragon, in turn, snapped his right head forward, nailing the Avenger's body to the muddy river bed. Hulk pushed the alien away using his feet and threw his fists on the legs of the monster, causing it to stumble.

With a jump back, he landed on the sidewalk that bordered the canal.

Then he grabbed a lamppost in his hands. The metal screeched as it was ripped off the sidewalk.

Finally, the green goliath raised the instrument as if it was a club and smiled.

The next blow hit the middle head of Ghidorah, and the vibration spread along the surface of the river, rippling it.

The dragon let out an irritated hiss and lunged forward.

It grabbed the Avenger's body with its hind legs, slamming it against the city road surface and dragging it for a length of at least two hundred meters.

It stopped abruptly, letting Hulk to continue his advance uninterrupted, until he crashed into a tax building.

The green goliath emerged shortly afterwards from the rubble, covered with soot and pieces of concrete.

With the immense skyscrapers in the background, he pounced Ghidorah three times, looking for a breach in what seemed an impenetrable defence. The dragon counterattacked, snapping its jaws like a snake.

The two titans continued hitting each other, punch against bite, colliding repeatedly and causing a deafening crash, while the surrounding buildings ended up razed to the ground by the occasional beams released by Ghidorah.

Terrified by that incredible spectacle, the civilians who had not yet managed to find shelter forgot to run, remaining still and motionless to observe the scene.

With threatening roars, the dragon and Hulk continued to fight, studying and testing the amount of energy left to the opponent.

The instant the Avenger seemed to be in trouble, the three-headed monster spun around and hit him with its tail. The green goliath collapsed forward and Ghidorah, taking advantage of this moment of weakness, began to forcefully strike the hooked part on the opponent, repeatedly and without pity.

It seemed to many that the end had come for Hulk. His fighting spirit seemed to evaporate little by little. Then, as if from nowhere, he let out a roar of pure anger.

He avoided the last blow of the tail and jumped forward, pouring all his mass on the chest of Ghidorah with a violent blow. The monster was thrown against the Empire State Building, destroying its side and making the ground tremble.

After the collapse of the side facade, the structure of the building gave way. The symbol of the city centre was reduced to simple rubble in a few moments.

Rolling, Ghidorah sank into the road surface, raising a dense cloud of dust and debris. At the same time, the skyscraper fell on it.

Hulk landed shortly thereafter, admiring his work and shouting for victory.

"Stupid dragon!" he said, raising both his arms. "None is stronger than Hulk!"

In that precise moment, the figure of the hydra emerged from the heap of debris and pieces of building, breathing heavily.

The left head let out a strange lament, almost a cry for help, while the other two turned furiously in the direction of the opponent.

Hulk narrowed his eyes, preparing to attack once more.

He threw forward, ready to hit the beast ...but he didn't get the chance.

An intense red glow fell against his body, sending him against the top of a skyscraper.

Wanda Maximoff stepped onto the road, her long hair hanging in mid-air and her eyes flashing.

Resumed by the sudden blow, Hulk rose to his feet and looked towards the new threat.

He snarled and jumped forward. However, just before he could even be one meter from Scarlet Witch, she raised her hand and simply grasped the Avenger's body telekinetically, slamming it first against the road surface, about three times, then against another building.

Hulk was tossed across the street, like a pinball ball, while Ghidorah rose from the ground with a satisfied smile.

"Do you know that a living and a dead body contain the same number of particles? There is no substantial difference in their structure", the middle head commented, approaching the couple.

"Life and death… are just non-quantifiable abstractions", it hissed, lowering the long necks to Wanda's height. "That's all you are for me: renewable energy. Only food."

Having said that, it nodded quickly at Scarlet Witch.

The young woman didn't hesitate for a moment and pulled the figure of the Hulk towards her. Then, she spread her arms, and the green goliath followed her movements, like a puppet.

The Avenger snarled and tried to free himself from that unknown force, but found himself unable to do so.

"Keep him like this", Ghidorah ordered, while the various jaws of the dragon began to light up with a familiar golden glow.

Hulk dilated his pupils. Even his mind, albeit primitive, was well aware of the fact that such a shot, fired at such a close distance, would have caused considerable damage even to someone like him.

He growled, more than determined not to show fear or weakness in the face of the hydra.

And it was at that moment ... that a blinding glare illuminated the darkness of the storm once again.

Ghidorah's three heads stopped suddenly, rolling their eyes and straightening up like snakes in front of a potential threat.

The clouds opened. Thor descended from the sky, leaving a trail of lightning behind him.

He drew an arch over the road, until he reached the immense figure of the dragon.

The Asgardian pushed himself down, conveying the force of gravity on his feet and asking for obedience. And the force of gravity, after a very short resistance, recognized his superiority.

He glided in mid-air over the skyscrapers, levitating like a ghost. The red cloak slammed behind him as smoke and lightning streamed out of his mouth and nose, surrounding his skull like a bright halo.

He raised both hands, yelled and dropped Stormbreaker like an axe.

The large circular blade began to fly in mid air, moving on Ghidorah's left neck. At first, the weapon sank on the thyroid muscle, severing its anterior ligaments, and then rotated all the way around, unhinging its head from the rest of the body.

The skull of the being fell heavily to the ground.

An indefinable grimace was drawn on the lifeless face of the head, which remained so even when it rolled away, escaping from its trunk.

Short spasms still animated the carcass, while the peak was tinged with red.

The other two heads screamed at the same time. Pain! Someone had seriously injured them! Such a thing had not happened for countless millennia!

There were no words that could describe their anger, the kind of anger that could only be seen in a being who until a few minutes before considered itself untouchable.  
The dragon erupted bundles of electric beams, filling the neighbourhood with shocks and shaking the foundations of the buildings.

Its only thought was to hunt down that wretched man who had dared to harm its brother, until it took him, torn him to pieces and reduced him to mere excrement.

The middle head turned Thor's direction, who in the meantime had landed on top of a skyscraper, Stormbreaker again in one hand and Mjolnir in the other.

All over the world, the people who were witnessing the clash live began to cheer, now aware of the fact that that creature was far from invincible, that it could be injured, and therefore killed. At the Shield base, even Fury allowed himself a little smile.

But this enthusiasm was very short-lived.

Thor heard a strange sound, as if something soft was trying to make its way inside a conduit. Ghidorah's severed neck began to flash, while a strange mass of pink and deformed flesh began to make its way from the exact point where it had been beheaded.

Thor tightened his grip on his weapons, putting himself in a defensive position.

At the same time, the middle head of the hydra bent close to the severed neck, and bit into the substance, which now seemed like placenta.

The viscous layer opened ... and a muzzle came out of it. And then a pair of eyes ... and finally a couple of horns.

A few seconds later, under the astonished gaze of each spectator, the dragon's left head returned to its original shape, as if it had never been scratched.

The newly formed head made a couple of coughs, spewing a sticky liquid. Then it turned a furious look in Thor's direction, followed by its brothers.

At that precise moment, the mind of every single person who had witnessed that creepy scene was crossed by a single and simple thought.

"Oh, come on!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**BOOM! I hope you liked it.**

**Poor Kevin, it's always the one who get its head riped off. In the next chapter, Thor vs Ghidorah!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's a new chapter****. **

**I know, it's a bit in late, but the situation here in Italy is not the best because of the coronavirus...and also because the last chapter had just one review, so I was a little downhearted.**

**I hope this chapter will do better, because I worked a lot on it. **

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

Shortly before 20:00, a strange twilight had begun to descend all over New York, probably favoured by the storm clouds.

The southern horizon of the city, along the coast, was cluttered with lightning and thunderbolts.  
The clouds already present on the metropolis swelled.

Controlled by a photocell, the street lighting went into operation half an hour before the usual time, even on those streets where it had not yet been activated manually.

Confusion reigned throughout the city, whose neighbourhoods were invaded by state police vehicles and mobile television units. Radio communications intertwined in the overheated, still air.

And in the midst of all that cacophony there were Thor and Ghidorah, eyes fixed on each other.

The Asgardian heard the storm wind whistling between buildings and skyscrapers. It was a disturbing sound, full of desolation. The rain that hit the windshields of the cars had transformed the landscape into a vacillating hallucination.

When the god of thunder and Ghidorah stopped at the intersection of Times Square and the Broadway, the rain became so intense and violent that it produced a roar loud enough to soothe the sound of occasional thunders.

The huge dragon stared intently at the new opponent, taking a quick sniff.

"Son of Odin", the middle head growled, tightening both its eyelids. The other two followed it, showing their teeth in grotesque grimaces.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Do you know me?"

"I knew your father", the beast hissed, dilating its nostrils once again.

"Aaaaaah, many aeons have passed since our glorious battle. The day I killed his brothers", it continued with a mocking grin. "We have forgotten the features of his face ... we have forgotten the sound of his voice ... but we'll never forget his stench, nor the taste of his cursed blood."

It took a step forward, snapping its jaws, its tail that vibrated for the barely contained anger.

"It flows in you. And it betrays you ... your highness", it said with a cruel shimmer in its scarlet eyes, before turning its attention towards its companions. "Rejoice, my brothers, because today we'll eat Asgardian flesh!"

Upon hearing these words, Thor's grip on his weapons became stronger. He narrowed his eyes, putting himself in an attacking position.

"I warn you, filthy worm. Leave Earth alone and go back to the hole you crawled out of!"

"Or what, little man? You're going to kill me?" the dragon asked mockingly.

An excited smile formed on the face of the Asgardian, vibrating with anticipation for the imminent battle.

"That's just about the size of it", he said with a snarl, while the beast spread its immense wings.

"Then come on, son of Odin ... let me kill you!" it shouted, charging forward with a roar that shook the hearts of every single person left in that city.

The god let out a battle cry, and responded to the provocation by striking his axe and cracking the dragon's hard scales.

The monster took the hit, stumbling backwards. It had to admit, that weapon was formidable, tough enough to hurt him. And it was precisely since its confrontation with Odin that someone had been able to accomplish such an undertaking.

It was time for the counterattack.

The left head led a whip, sending the opponent against a skyscraper. Then, Ghidorah jumped and landed on top of him, crushing him to the ground with all his mammoth weight.

"Weak", the monster hissed, rushing forward to bite the body of the Asgardian.

Before it could do it, however, something small and fast hit the dragon's middle head, causing it to fall on its right side.

Thor smiled as Mjolnir returned to his possessor.

He had collected the remains shortly before leaving Earth with the Guardians, after returning to the place where his father had died. The same place where he had his first encounter with Hela, the goddess of death, who had reduced the mythical mallet to pieces.

But the Asgardian had managed to recover them all after three days of tireless search, and thanks to the help of the last of the dwarves, Eitri, he had managed to repair it.

Thor jumped into the sky, making a wide arc, and landed exactly behind Ghidorah. He kicked off two fleas who tried to block his way and dealt a couple of blows with the hammer that shattered the skull of some other insect. Then, he grabbed Ghidorah's tail and pulled, appealing to all the strength in his body.

With a cry of surprise, the three-headed monster was lifted off the ground. The Asgardian moved him up and down, slamming him on the road and raising a dense cloud of debris.

He leapt over the titan's body, dragging its tail behind it.

The moment he landed, he swirled the dragon around him, running over palaces and arthropods as if they were simple flies.

After two laps, Thor no longer had the energy to support the huge mass of the dragon and threw it across the street, against a covered parking lot.

The beast slammed into the building like a demolition ball, creating a huge crater.

It fell to the ground, launching a roar of pure anger, while the spectators cheered.

Thor attempted to sink Stormbreaker onto the hydra's back, but Ghidorah was quick to respond.

The right head snapped back, twisting like an owl's. It opened its jaws and closed them on the Asgardian's body.

The teeth of the beast pierced the leather sleeves of the armour.

Thor felt immense pain all over his body, as he had never experienced it. The dragon's jaw closed like a machine, and one of its fangs touched the bone of the limb, sinking deeper and deeper.

The head smiled and lifted him up, shaking its muzzle like a crocodile.

Thor moved his shoulder in an attempt to call Stormbreaker back, but the pain was unbearable.

He heard some screams and realized they were his.

He moved on his legs against the dragon's jaw, shot Mjolnir in one of its muzzles and managed to free himself.

The god of thunder fell to his knees and jumped back awkwardly, landing on his feet. He reached out with a grunt, ready to call Stormbreaker back. He had no chance.  
Ghidorah's claws grabbed him from behind, dragging him against a truck. His body left a dent in the carriage and the world around became blurred.

The Asgardian got to his feet almost immediately, and when the hydra tried to hit him with its tail, he grabbed the hooked tip.

The dragon dragged him along the neighbourhood, causing dozens of spectators to stumble with his advance, while trying to get rid of the Avenger. Then, the prickly tail snapped like a whip and threw Thor towards a skyscraper.

"My God!" a civilian exclaimed when he saw the Aesir crash into the building, raising a rain of cement and dust throughout the surrounding area. A few seconds later, the building collapsed on itself, causing a gloomy darkness to fall over that part of the town.

Thor came out of the pile of rubble after almost a minute, visibly tried by the blow.

The horde of fleas was upon him, grabbing him by the arms, legs and hair.

The Asgardian shrugged them off and got to his feet. Meanwhile, Ghidorah stepped forward, walking on the arthropods.

Another blow of the tail hit Thor on the back, sending him to the ground. The fleas were on top of him, while the dragon roared with pleasure behind him.

"My scales are an armour!" the monster exclaimed. "My teeth are swords! My spines are spears! In front of me, the snake that made even the All Father tremble with fear, you are just a refusal! A pathetic sack of meat belonging to a warrior chaste now close to extinction! You are nothing compared to your father! And now close your eyes, son of Odin, because you will reach your precious Valhalla."

And, after saying these words, the beast fired more electric beams at the defenceless figure of Thor, regardless of the fleas it killed in the process. This decision, however, soon proved to be an unsuitable choice for the type of warrior it was facing.

The alien watched with horrid astonishment as the Asgardian rose from the ground, his eyes lit up with new life and surrounded by shocks that gushed all over his body.  
His mere presence had darkened the skies with further clouds.

Strong lightning and thunder slashed the air like swords. The skies had recognized Thor's power, and had bowed to his will.

"I'm not my father, monster. I am Thor, son of Odin ... and God of thunder!" he shouted, emitting from his axe a very strong thunder bolt that hit the dragon in the chest.  
The beast's body fell to the ground, obscuring the neighbourhood with a dense cloud of debris and falling ash.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

While Ghidorah and Thor were busy fighting, Hulk was still in Wanda's telekinetic grasp.

Scarlet Witch had stood still and motionless for nearly five minutes, apparently waiting to receive some kind of order from her new master.

But when that time came to an end, the woman jerked her head towards the Avenger, her eyes still wrapped by that golden glow.

The green goliath understood what would happen before Wanda started to spread her hands a second time, starting to tear the opponent's muscles.

Hulk gritted his teeth and held back a snarl, calling on all the strength he had in his body to resist that invisible attack.

Scarlet Witch, however, seemed relentless, and kept pulling.

But since she was too busy in perpetrating that sort of torture, the woman didn't notice that Quake had landed behind her.

Wounded, bruised, but still very much alive, the Inhuman launched a powerful sonic wave against Wanda, sending her to crash into the column of an old building.

"Come on, little witch, our fight is not over yet!" Daisy growled, while Hulk's body tumbled to the ground.

The green goliath coughed a few times, turning an uncertain expression onto his rescuer.

Quake merely smiled, before nodding in the direction of where Thor and Ghidorah were facing each other.

"Go and help him. I've got this one", she said with determination, focusing her gaze on Wanda.

Scarlet Witch had already risen, driven by a force that would never let her get tired.

Hulk briefly passed his head from the former Avenger to Quake.

From his gaze it was evident that the idea of abandoning a fight didn't excite him ... but he still had some unfinished businesses with that dragon.

He nodded quickly towards Daisy, then left the area with a jump.

At the same time, the woman put herself in an attack position, ready to fight once again against Scarlet Witch.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Two blocks back, Rhodey had reduced the surrounding neighbourhood to a colander. The metal armour raised the sensor levels to the maximum and checked the area around him.

Looking north, east and west, he saw seven fleas in the range of his viewers. The closest was ten meters away, and was quite large in size.

Another flea came out from behind an abandoned vehicle on the main road. The hero known as War Machine immediately set himself on guard, as the creatures began to growl at him threateningly.

Rhodey raised his mechanical arm, aiming a phantom weapon at the skull of the first insect and firing. Although the warning lights flashed, due to the rapidly decreasing energy, the armour was moving as if it had still mounted the massive M2 that it had lost a few minutes before, when a horde of ten fleas had tried to assault him at the same time.

The man had managed to kill them all, losing the aforementioned auxiliary generators in the process.

Faced with the death of its companion, the second insect opened its jaws and launched a chilling scream, charging the Avenger.

Inside the armour, Rhodey frowned. If he still had his cannons, he could have turned that beast's head into steam too. And also that of its other friends, who had launched at the same instant towards him.

After all, Tony had built the armour to have that kind of precision. Six shots for six fleas.

If only he had his cannons. Like an amputee who was missing a limb, his arms itched as if he still had them on.

The greedy insect meanwhile, had already covered half the distance that separated them. It moved its jaw, and the suit microphones sensed the click-click caused by the fangs.

Without the cannons, Rhodey was left with only close individual combat. He had to let the creatures walk up to him, surround him and grab him, looking for a passage beyond the suit. Even without the energy, it would still have been difficult to damage.

He managed to kill the first flea with relative ease, avoiding the assault and hitting the soft part of its belly. The armoured fist pierced it from side to side, pouring green blood all over the roadway.

Then, the man grabbed the beast's corpse like a club, using it to hit two smaller fleas. Finally he threw it at a medium-sized one, trapping it in the side of a car.

Something heavy attacked him to the side, causing him to fall to the ground. Turning the helmet slightly, he realized that he had been grabbed by one of the larger insects, whose teeth were now stuck in the joints of the suit.

He tried to get up, but the beast maintained a firm position, unloading all its weight on its robust jaws and nailing him to the ground.

The interior of the helmet began to flash red, signalling another system error.

Rhodey tried to appeal to the thrusters, but the position he was in made it impossible for him to move with his arms, locked under the suit chest.

He was having difficulty breathing. He doubted that he would survive, if more had arrived.

And then, he heard a strange hiss behind him. The flea let go and screamed, as if it had been hit by something.

Two more hisses were heard, and then a loud _CRACK_! Silence.

Rhodey wasted no time and, taking advantage of the outlet, used the thrusters of his feet to get away from the insect.

He clashed on the road and leaned on his back, having a view of what was happening.

The flea lay on the ground, completely still, and its body started to melt.

A few meters from it, there were the Guardians of the Galaxy, accompanied by Jane Foster, whose hands were wrapped around a large blaster.  
Behind them, the Milan stood, parked on a 63 Rolls Royce.

In front of that view, Rhodey released a sigh of relief. He collapsed on the ground, under the astonished gaze of the Guardians.  
Rocket was the first to approach.

"Are you ok, tin man?" the genetic experiment asked, tapping the helmet of the suit.

Mantis stared at the raccoon with a discontented frown. "Don't be rude, Rocket."

"What? I'm not being rude!" the ex bounty hunter retorted, crossing both arms in front of his chest.

"I am Groot", Groot argued, receiving an annoyed expression from his companion.

"You know what? I almost preferred you as a teenager. It's not my fault that the tin man got overwhelmed like a complete idiot", he mumbled, while Rhodey struggled to his feet.

"You are lucky I ran out of ammunition", the colonel said, raising his mask and turning a disconsolate expression on the team "I suppose I should thank you."

"Actually, she was the one who killed that thing", Quill intruded, pointing to Jane. "It was a really good shot."

The woman released a loud snort, twirling the blaster in her hands.

"You don't work ten years for SHIELD without learning a few tricks", she said proudly.

Nebula rolled her eyes, apparently unimpressed, before turning her attention to the Avenger.

"Where's Thor?" she asked coldly.

Rhodes stared at her in confusion. Was Thor on the planet? Finally, some good news!

He was about to answer her…but, just before he could do it, a deafening roar attracted the glances of the group.

They all looked up to the sky, just in time to see the shadows of Thor and Ghidorah meeting in mid-air, right in the centre of the storm, releasing lightning bolts.

"There he is! Hi, Thor!" Mantis greeted, her face adorned with an excited smile.

"I don't think he can hear you", Drax replied, whose gaze was still pointed in the direction of that apocalyptic scene. And he was certainly not the only one.

Quill swallowed hard. "Wow. It's ... it's ..."

"Big enough to devour our ship as if it was a breath mint", Rocket finished, whose tone of voice was much more fearful than it was only a few seconds before.

However, Peter tried to appear as confident as possible. After all, this was the perfect opportunity to impress Gamora, and he wouldn't have let it slip.

"The bigger they are ... the harder they fall."

Drax stared at him with an impassive look. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Quill", he commented with an impassive voice.

"What? No, it's a metaphor ..."

"Less talk and more shooting", Gamora interrupted him coldly, pointing her weapons towards a specific point of the road.

The rest of the guardians followed her with their eyes.

Dozens of fleas had just taken their seats in front of them, their fangs exposed and their faces adorned with grotesque grins.

Rocket smiled and armed his blaster.

"This will be fun", he said excitedly, preparing for the upcoming fight.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

One of the smaller fleas lunged forward.

Frank Castle, aka Punisher, raised his arm and stabbed the creature's back. A second stab descended on the monster's head, piercing the soft part between the plates of the exoskeleton.

The man turned his wrist and the insect's skull detached itself from its deformed neck with a sound similar to that of dry wood. The body collapsed on the ground, in spasms.

Frank kept the insect's head away, letting the green liquid flow out, while its jaws still banged like a toy denture.

With a tired sigh, he slipped into an apartment building and started running up the stairs, not before he closed the door behind him. Fleas slammed into it, but the metal wall seemed to hold up.

This gave him some time to reflect. He had made his way to the outskirts of Hell's Kitchen, and was now close to the city centre.

As he climbed, through one of the windows in the building, he idly noticed that some policemen were taking out the smaller fleas, but it was as if they were using pebbles to divert the flow of a flooding river. They fired without any strategy. They looked more like children playing soldiers, but he didn't criticize their courage for that.

Once on the roof, he looked downstairs. Five fleas were climbing up the palace wall.

Frank unloaded almost an entire magazine of bullets on the arthropods in an attempt to make them desist.

And because he was too busy eliminating the insects that were trying to reach him, he didn't notice the huge beast that rushed behind him.

He lost his support and fell from the roof, falling on an iron fence. The sharp points stuck in his shoulder.

Frank cursed at the top of his lungs with twenty centimetres of iron piercing part of his arm, and the rest of his body dangling off the wire mesh. His rifle, however, didn't cease to fire, continuing to target the insects he had within range.

The fleas concentrated all their attention on him, reaching out and trying to grab his feet, legs and pelvis.

One of them managed to bite into his injured shoulder, folding the metal bar between its jaws. Ironically, it was the bite of the beast that set him free.

The man growled in anger, pulling a gun from his pants pocket and firing directly into the insect's mouth. The body of the animal was briefly moved by spasms, before falling to the ground and dragging the executioner with him.

Frank landed on a dumpster and rolled on the road, moaning in pain.

At the same time, three medium-sized fleas began to crawl towards him like ravenous dogs.

The man fired his rifle, but no bullets fired from the tip of the weapon. And the gun wouldn't have been enough. He had to reload, but considering how close the business was ... he could never have done it in time.

Fortunately, he didn't even need it.

A red blur pounced on one of the fleas, hitting the insect with a powerful spinning kick that sent it against a garbage can.

The second arthropod turned in surprise, but too slowly. With a quick leap, the mysterious figure slipped a metal rod into the brain of the beast, breaking its central trunk and killing it instantly.

Another flea launched towards the new opponent, with its jaws wide open.

As if he was maneuvered by an invisible force, he bent to the ground and avoided the attack by a hair. Then, he threw a strange stick straight into one of the eyes on the insect's skull.

The animal howled in pain, shaking back and forth to get rid of the foreign body.

With lightning movements, the red blur pulled the metal rod from the corpse of the flea killed a little less than a minute before, made some somersaults towards the other and reserved the same fate for it.

Frank watched the whole scene with calm interest, while the figure of Matt Murdock, known to the general public as Daredevil, was revealed in front of him in the lightning of the storm.

"Chrome head", Punisher greeted, with a mocking gesture of his bloody hand.

"Frank", the Devil of Hell's Kitchen said, giving him a quick nod.

He helped the man to get up, while he observed the corpses of insects scattered in the surrounding area.

"It will seem strange to you, but being the exterminator had been my first career choice", he said with grim fun.

Matt suddenly cocked his head, appealing to his more developed senses.

He was silent for almost half a minute before turning his attention to Times Square.

"These are only small fish, Frank. The origin of all this evil ... lies there", he said, indicating the aforementioned position.

The Punisher raised an eyebrow, glancing briefly from the vigilante to the City Centre.

"Jesus, sometimes you give me the chills", he muttered in a low voice.

This done, he cracked his neck and reloaded his weapons in a fraction of seconds.

"Well, then there is no time to waste. Show me the way, red**"**, he ordered gruffly, a habit he had brought with him since his days as a soldier.

Matt merely nodded, apparently unaffected by man's mannerisms. He started running towards Times Square, quickly followed by Frank.

In front of them, lightning and thunder flashed in the clouds, casting their shadows on the road.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Ghidorah and Thor had moved their clash between the skies, beyond the blanket of clouds that hovered threateningly over New York.

Mjolnir spun around them like a satellite, occasionally hitting the dragon, while the beast and the god of thunder exchanged blows and energy attacks.  
At one point, Ghidorah made a sharp turn upward, merging with the shadows of the storm.

It looked like a black silhouette among the flashes, an immaterial and malevolent entity, coming out directly from the darkness of the world.

"You can't stop us", its low and thundering voice growled, like the roar of the wind itself. "We will reduce the Earth to dust! And the dust will become atoms. And atoms will become energy!"

Thor spun around, sensing a sudden shift of air behind him. He whirled Stormbreaker, deflecting a bundle of electric beams.

The clouds opened once more, revealing the dragon's golden scales.

"We will eat it, even its last particle. And once satisfied, we will collect the Infinity Gems from the remains of this dirty planet", the beast continued, smiling maliciously. "It will be our personal battery ... until the next meal. It will feed us for millennia!"

Having said that, he launched himself forward with a roar, and Thor did the same, both hammers hoisted high and loaded with lightning.

All three of Ghidorah's heads fired a beam of pure energy, and when the attacks met in mid-air, right in the eye of the hurricane, they produced a shock wave strong enough to create an air bubble that surrounded the two opponents like a cage, enveloping clouds, rain and lightning as if they were nothing more than mere annoyances.

The darkness of the storm was illuminated by a glow, and the city below also briefly gave way to the light from the explosion. It seemed like the wrath of God descended to Earth.

Thor skipped the jaws of the creature, using both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir to charge a single, powerful blow.

The attack was strong enough to throw Ghidorah towards the ground, with the same ease with which it is possible to drop a house of cards. At that point, the god of thunder didn't hesitate, and with all the strength he had in his body he threw himself against the golden beast, sinking with it into the icy and deep American waters of the New York bay.

Thor continued to punch, though tried by that clash. He could have retired, he SHOULD have retired ... but he was still an Asgardian, and the thirst for battle burned his throat. His blood seemed to boil, and Stormbreaker and Mjolnir were hungry for death.  
**  
**On the other hand, Ghidorah was no different, and its mind had already given birth to a strategy to bring down the god of thunder. It just had to find the right opportunity.

The dragon's body crashed into the seabed, raising debris, mud and methane. The right head jerked forward, its red eyes illuminated by a primordial and ravenous rage.  
The Asgardian avoided the attack, but in doing so he made himself vulnerable to a blow from below by the middle one, which grabbed the Aeisir's cloak, swung it and then crashed him into the chain of a ship anchored nearby.

Thor lost his grip on his weapons, tumbling over the backdrop and taking the iron rope with him.

Ghidorah smiled smugly and charged forward. And although it wasn't used to fighting underwater, its movements were certainly no less rapid and graceful.

In front of it, the Asgardian had managed to get back on his feet. Now it was facing an angry, weaponless opponent ... completely defenceless. Or so the golden dragon thought.

Thor held his breath, stretched his muscles and grabbed the anchor with both hands. Then, he twirled it in one quick motion, just as the hydra was preparing to finish him.

The hook of the anchor stuck in the jaws of the left head, interfering with the gravity centre of the beast and causing it to tumble on the seabed, raising another cloud of mud that obscured the view of both fighters.

Thor kept his grip on the chain, pulling the dragon as if it was a fish caught on a hook. At the same time, he summoned Stormbreaker and Mjolnir to himself, while Ghidorah stirred as if mad, in an attempt to free itself.

The god of thunder was finally ahead ... but the battle was far from over.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Inside the SHIELD base, Fury and the rest of the staff gathered witnessed the clash live with expressions that went to the purest dismay at the classic stoicism that characterized many of the agents belonging to the organization.

But internally, even these individuals had been shocked by the devastation perpetrated by Ghidorah in such a short space of time. And while the dragon and Thor exchanged blows, lighting up New York Bay, some of them believed to being catapulted into a Norse ballad.

"Sir, we have a live call from Colonel Ross!" Maria said, calling Fury's attention.

He released a discontented sigh.

In his heart he had hoped to the last that the man would be kept out of this affair, especially after all the trouble he caused during the Civil War.

Despite his active role in the Avengers division, the former Secretary of State had not been held responsible for all the damage caused by the event, especially because of his war hero status and the connections he had made with many of the prominent members in the government.

Fury motioned for Maria to forward the call.

Seconds later, the face of a man apparently in his sixties - with short white hair pulled back, prominent moustache, and electric blue eyes - appeared on the base screen  
"Colonel Ross", Fury greeted, not hiding the annoyance he was feeling in that moment.

If the military noticed it, he certainly didn't show it.

"Director Fury, you must immediately call the Avengers back and order them to withdraw at a safe distance", he said with an authoritative voice.

The Director of SHIELD raised an eyebrow. "General, I don't understand."

"We have developed ... the prototype for a new weapon. An Oxygen Destroyer", the man continued, surprising both Fury and Maria. "It will eliminate all the oxygen from the surrounding area, killing all life within one kilometre. It will destroy that monster ... and this nightmare will finally end."

Internally, Fury found himself cursing.

He knew well the weapon described by the Colonel.

Despite its war potential, the project had been shelved under the blessing of the Geneva Convention against chemical weapons. This, at least, until a certain purple-skinned alien chose to eliminate half of the Earth's population.

Ross had used the event to convince the upper floors to re-evaluate the creation of the weapon which, apparently, was already ready for use.

"With all due respect, sir, Thor is right in the centre of impact. He can still turn the situation around!" Fury growled, clapping both hands on the surface of the tactical table.  
In response, Ross just sighed.

"You're asking me to trade the life of an alien for that of seven billion people. Desolate, Director, but he had his chance. The missile is already on its way", he revealed with a tired voice. "May God have mercy on us ..."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

On the top of a skyscraper there were eighty people crammed like sardines. No one spoke, although a woman silently moved her lips as she addressed a prayer to the sky**. **A man next to her was pressing his lips on the cross that his mother had given him only two years earlier.

And then ... they heard it coming: a growing moan from another world that came from the west side of the city; a mmmm that grew to MMMMM in the space of a few seconds.

On screens all over the world, the various spectators watched the scene simultaneously.

The palace refugees saw the missile emerge from behind what were the remains of the Empire State Building. It was just over 200 meters from the ground, almost kissing the skyscrapers below it with its elusive shadow.

The Oxygen Destroyer, equipped with a fragmentation warhead that would detonate it on contact, was motionless in mid-air approximately at the point where Ghidorah and Thor were fighting under the waves.

In the subsequent images, the screens filled with such a blinding white that the spectators had to cover their eyes to avoid getting burned. Then, as the white faded, they saw the missile fragments - a small amount of black chips in the decreasing glow - and a huge mass of water rose a thousand meters from the surface of the ocean. The bullet had hit the target perfectly.

After that, the people of New York and the whole world saw the surrounding area ignite for a stretch of about one kilometre, reducing the sea to a powder keg.**  
**They watched the mass of water swell, and then fall on the bay like rain.

An inexorable silence seemed to fall over the whole metropolis.

Flat calm returned to reign over the ocean, as dead fish and birds felt on the surface.

The various inhabitants scattered on the tops of the skyscrapers remained still and motionless, their eyes fixed on that dead zone. Were they ... were they safe? Had the beast been killed? Was that nightmare finally over?

The answer to these questions was not long in making itself heard.

Thor's body came out of the water like a steaming bullet, landing heavily on the ground and covering a stretch of almost half a kilometre, lifting pieces of road surface and all those vehicles that tried in vain to stop his advance.

His body looked heavily burned, the cloak was on fire, and the man himself was bleeding heavily. There was no shadow of Stormbreaker and Mjolnir.

A few seconds later, the immense figure of Ghidorah rose from the bay with a single, rapid flap of wings, landing in front of the body of the Asgardian.

The dragon's skin was full of cuts and burns, but these had already begun to regenerate.

In the face of that horrible sight, many of the spectators who had witnessed the scene fell to their knees, while others began to shout or cry.

At the same time, Ghidorah's middle head lowered towards Thor, peering at him from head to toe.

"Still alive. You impress me, Asgardian. And your courage has touched my heart. Oh yes, there is still a little part of me that knows pity. I would like to end your pain ... with something special that I saved only for this occasion", the beast said, smiling maliciously.

"Do you know that when the heart stops, the mind of a living creature continues to work for another seven minutes?" he asked with a vaguely innocent tone.

At the same time, the monster's long tail snapped a second time. The hooked points it had merged with each other, creating a sort of sharp harpoon.

"I'm going to rip it from your chest ... and devour it in front of you", the titan continued**,** making the new weapon weigh on the Asgardian's body.

He coughed blood, while maintaining a cold and impassive expression, challenging the monster to do his worst.

Ghidorah snapped his tongue, apparently irritated by that blatant display of swagger.

"But I'm not going to do it immediately", the middle head decided, receiving disappointed looks from the other two.

Then, it turned its back and spread its wings, raising a cloud of dust.

"I hope you will appreciate the gesture, son of Odin. Everything that will happen to this planet from now on ... is your responsibility. Fire will rain from the sky, the oceans will boil, the streets will turn red with the blood of billions. And only then, after your last pitiful hope is extinguished…you'll have my permission to die", it hissed cruelly, glancing quickly at the god of thunder.

Thor attempted to get up ... but found himself unable to do so. Whatever hit him, it had done far more damage than he initially thought. It had been a long time since he had felt so tired. As if all his energies had been drained.

The three heads noticed it and burst into loud laughter.

"Oh, I know you are sorry. For now, at least. In this fleeting instant, in the long and tedious slope of eternity", the middle one said, with a mocking tone. "But don't worry ... it will be over soon."

Thor gritted his teeth, biting his tongue. No ... it wouldn't end like this. He was the god of thunder! Killer of Thanos, heir to the throne of Asgard ... an Avenger.

Appealing to all the strength he had left, he rose slowly from the ground, while dust and blood spilled onto the road.

The man's eyes seemed calm and resolute, but in reality they burned with anger and thirst for battle.

Ghidorah growled angrily, recognizing in them that same gaze that Odin had given him many eons ago, before he mutilated its body, leaving it to die in the immensity of space.

Needless to say, such a memory only promulgated its growing fury. It would put that miserable worm to his place!

But before it could even take a step towards the Asgardian ... something decidedly unexpected happened.

The armoured figure of James Rhodes fell heavily alongside the god of thunder, his weapons still working aimed at Ghidorah. Not that there were many. The fleas had destroyed about 60% of its attack devices, now limited to manual thrusters and some missiles.

Shortly thereafter, the pair was joined by the Guardians of the Galaxy, including Jane. Both she and Nebula immediately put in front of Thor, their faces adorned with cold and determined expressions.

Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Mantis and Drax also came, armed with long-range blasters, knives and submachine guns, all arriving on that wasteland to protect their teammate. And they were certainly not the only ones!

Sam fell from the sky like an eagle, quickly followed by the figure of Bucky. Both were heavily injured, and had lost copious amounts of blood. Nonetheless, their fighting spirit had never been higher.

An outside spectator would have almost felt as if he had gone back in time during the final battle against Thanos. A situation that, when you think about it, was not so dissimilar from this.

But this time, their enemy had no generals on its side, nor subordinates capable of independent thinking. It was a being powerful enough to destroy Earth with its own forces, without the use of any gems, and it had defeated any opponent who had attempted to face it.

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise", the aforementioned beast commented, with an amused smile. "More spectators came to witness my triumph?"

The rest of the Guardians glanced quickly at Thor, weighing his eyes on his wounds. Even if him, who was the most powerful of all of them, had been reduced to such a state ... then they had very little hope of surviving a clash with that creature.

An awareness that even the Avengers who had chosen to assist them had reached.

And at that moment, when all hope seemed now lost, crushed under the feet of the three-headed monster ...

"Rhodes, can you hear me?" Fury's voice said in the man's helmet, making him jump.

"Yes, I ... I'm here", he replied with an uncertain tone, without taking his eyes off the giant figure of Ghidorah. God, it was so big!

"Hold on, son. I called the cavalry", the Director of SHIELD continued, surprising the Avenger.

He glanced quickly at Sam and Bucky, who had listened to the conversation through the shared channel.

"Which cavalry?" Sam asked, visibly perplexed.

The answer was not long in coming.

Ghidorah's left head straightened suddenly, turning its attention to the horizon.

It narrowed its eyes and strained the auditory apparatus that it had under the horns, perceiving a strange buzz coming from that direction.

It snapped its jaws a few times, attracting the puzzled looks of its brothers. The middle head in particular had its face closed in a cold and contemplative expression.

Then, numerous objects began to emerge from the cloud cover that surrounded New York. Small only apparently - as they were very distant – since each of them was large as a Quinjet.

"Hello, Colonel", a voice in Rhodey's helmet greeted. A voice that the Avenger could have recognized among a thousand.

"T'Challa?" he asked surprised, pointing his eyes in the direction of the mysterious aircrafts.

Inside one of them, right at the centre of that mechanical swarm, there was a black man with a high and proud posture, the type of bearing that suited his status of regent.

He wore a tight, pitch-black suit, while in his hands he held a helmet that vaguely resembled the head of a feline.

He was the king of the most advanced nation on the entire planet: T'Challa, aka Black Panther ... ruler of Wakanda.

"I apologize for the delay, but setting up a fleet of this size is not exactly like walking in a park", the man said through the communication devices of the shuttle.

Rhodes smiled as another buzz came from behind the group.

Ghidorah turned, quickly followed by the group of heroes in front of him.

From the opposite horizon to the Wakandan fleet, with a speed of about mach 2, a military squadron consisting of at least a hundred airplanes and jets was arriving.

"Insects", the beast growled, opening its jaws wide and preparing to target this new threat.

At that precise moment, a bullet of pure energy hit the middle the dragon's middle head, causing it to stumble forward.

The one on the right let out an angry roar, turning to the mysterious attacker.

The figure of Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, descended from the sky and landed on the top of a skyscraper, flanked by that of Spiderman.

"Ready for the second round?" the woman said, while her hands began to light up with an intense golden glow.

Ghidorah had no chance to argue.

Another figure landed on a nearby skyscraper. Tall, muscular, green ... and definitely angry.

Hulk let out a furious scream, which echoed throughout the length of that metropolis now reduced to a pile of rubble.

And just among that debris, on the edge of the battlefield, four other individuals made their way.

Jessica Jones and Luke Cage walked to the group of superheroes, flanked by the figures of Daredevil and Punisher.

All of them wasted no time in asking what was going on or what the hell was that dragon. They merely nodded respectfully towards the fallen heroes, which they gladly returned. They would accept all possible help, even from the so-called "street heroes", as people used to call them.

Ghidorah snorted in disgust, while the left head let out a kind of wail mixed with the hiss of a snake.

Less than a minute later, Wanda Maximoff landed a few meters from the beast, her figure wrapped in an intense red glow. At the same time, fleas that still raged through the city began to surround the area, creating a sort of arena with their own bodies.

Even though the Avengers had managed to eliminate many of them ... their numbers were still high enough to pose a serious threat.

Quake arrived shortly after, visibly exhausted and battered, passing the circle of insects and tumbling alongside the group of superheroes. Evidently, the clash with Wanda had reduced her quite badly, but the mere fact that she had survived a battle with Scarlet Witch was a reason to be proud.

Stephen Strange followed, appearing from a portal with Wong. The burns on the clothes had disappeared, while the man's body now seemed completely restored, almost as if he had not risked death just an hour before.

"Magic", Rhodes thought ironically.

Twenty more portals materialized behind the sorcerer, while the best fighters that the world of the Mystical Arts had to offer joined the Earth's Mightiest Heroes for the first time since the great battle against the Mad Titan.

"I have no idea what the hell is going on ... but those are the bad guys, aren't they?" Jessica asked, pointing to Ghidorah's army and preparing for the upcoming fight.

"Flawless deduction", Matt muttered, doing the same thing.

Thor took a deep breath, raising both his hands in the air and recalling his weapons.

The reaction was almost instantaneous: Mjolnir and Stormbreaker shot out of the ocean in a blaze of lightning, passing Ghidorah, Wanda, the fleas and sticking in the open palms of the Avenger.

And as the huge dragon spread its immense wings, ready to attack those annoying opponents for what it thought would be the last time, the God of Thunder let out a single and simple battle cry.

"Avengers ... assemble!"

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**I hope you liked it.**

**In the next chapter...everyone vs Ghidorah!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's a new chapter!**

**Originally the story had to be much longer, but given the few reviews received...well, I decided to write four more chapters and then end it.**

**I wish you a good reading. **

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

One by one, the four rows of the Wakandan fleet fired their attacks of pure energy with a detachment of one second from each other, then diving in to reassemble with the hunting platoon, waiting to see the effects of the manoeuvre.

The blows stuck into Ghidorah's sternum, exactly where Thor had managed to hurt him the most.

The titan collected the attacks, emitting a low moan.

It stopped on the spot and the left head bent to analyse the affected area. Small drops of red liquid overflowed from the edges of the wounds, falling to the ground.

A little farther on, at the head of the hunting squadron, the platoon commander began guiding his cadets on the monster's front. The 'arrowhead', consisting of a formation of ten aviators, including the leader, flew on the left side of the beast, keeping a safe distance.

They moved about two hundred meters away, enough to accumulate a sufficient amount of time to prepare for the engagement.

At that point, the squadron leader made the Sky-Arrow turn so that the fighters stood in front of the titan's prospect, as the crow flies with the target.

The general of the Wakandans gave his order to withdraw, thus freeing their field of vision.

The fighters flew into the second round against the hydra, which attempted to immediately get rid of them with an electric beam.

The planes avoided it, dispersing in the air, causing the attack to end its run against an unarmed building.

The small contingent used the moment to coordinate a rapid manoeuvre to the monster's middle head, hitting its muzzle with a barrage of bullets.

Ghidorah roared in annoyance, as the battle by land raged beneath him.

The rest of the Guardians and Avengers, with the support of the Defenders and Strange's adepts, were fighting incessantly against the horde of ravenous fleas.

A little further on, on the edge of the improvised arena, Strange himself was engaged in a devastating duel against Wanda, a clash that had already razed one of the few neighbourhoods that escaped the devastation perpetrated by Ghidorah.

On the top of a skyscraper, Carol, Thor, Quake and Hulk had their eyes fixed on the dragon, still busy repelling the attack attempts by the US and Wakandan forces.

"Did you notice anything during your battles? Anything we can use against it? Maybe a weak point?" Carol asked, carefully scrutinizing the hydra's movements.

It took Quake a little to think about the question and answer it.

"Well, its heads seem our best option", she said uncertainly.

They looked for a few seconds at the squadron of shuttles and planes that fluttered around the beast.

"They are the only points that seems to hurt that thing if hit, especially the eyes and mouth", the woman continued, receiving a nod from Thor.

"The Captain and I will be able to attack it from the back, if we can prevent it from protecting itself ..."

"I'm here for this, aren't I?" Daisy said ironically, shrugging. "Ah, in addition I suggest you also target the neck: it has no armour at that point. Who knows, maybe you can come up with something."

Carol seemed to consider the superheroine's words.

"We could try to launch our strongest attacks at the same time", the woman suggested.

"It would be very risky", Thor observed. "We should approach it to make such a move, or we would risk hitting our allies too."

After this, the four stood still and stared at each other in silence. An illusory silence, broken by the noises that were heard around, far from quiet.

Quake raised a punch. "It seems that we have a plan, don't we? Let's get it done then! Hulk and I will do our best to keep it busy."

Next to her, the green goliath grunted in agreement.

"Are you sure that monster will focus on you?" Carol asked again, with some doubt in her voice.

"I fought with it enough to understand that it's the kind of guy who holds a grudge, and I have some unfinished business with it", Daisy replied. "It won't attack you, as long as you play it well. Keep your distance until then, and as soon as it drops its guard ... well, turn it into a beacon!"

The blonde and Thor consulted each other.

"Do you feel like trying?" she asked uncertainly, noting how much the body of the Asgardian had been battered in the previous clash.

The god thunder nodded resolutely. "I feel much better now. I'm ready to support the effort."

"Come on, then. That son of a bitch lives too much for my taste", the woman growled, pointing in the direction of the hydra.

In the meantime, the huge beast had pulled back its long necks, bending its legs and straightening its forked tail like a snake in a defensive position.

When one of the planes got too close, the left head jerked forward like a lightning.

The pilot of the vehicle seemed doomed. However, just before the jaws of the monster could close on the aircraft, a wall of rock came between the fleet and Ghidorah.

It was as tall as the titan and often something like fifteen meters. The head, which was instead intended for the squadron, penetrated the thick layers of clay, where it stopped, getting stuck in it.

As the pilots and spectators tried to understand the reasons why an immense wall had materialized in the same line of fire as their attacker, the dragon tried in vain to free itself from the clay that was increasingly wrapping around its skull, forcing it into a trap with no escape.

In an effort to do that, its right foot tripped over the Hudson River and the beast fell on its knees, finding itself once again immersed in that increasingly lean water. The middle head moved to the side, finding itself in front of a scene that surprised it a lot.

The various disciples of Strange were all grouped together in one place, their hands raised in mid-air and illuminated by a faint golden glow.

In that moment, the hydra understood ... they were responsible for that devilry!

It opened its jaws wide, ready to pour electric beams on them. However, it felt something move inside the wall, like a bulge that was gradually expelling the left head from the trap of rocks.

For a moment, it thought it would finally be free… instead, what happened was that a large punch made of scarlet red rock emerged from the clay blocks, which beat it in the chest, throwing it away from the battlefield, and then down to the lower levels of Times Square, where untangled the ruined remains of the city.

Quake came over to the area shortly after, observing the whole scene with a big smile.

The wall evaporated under her feet in a cloud of colour and, suspended in mid-air, the woman began to descend, until she stopped in front of the titan.

It collected the forces necessary to lift the thousands of tons that made up its body, and went back on track.

It broke into a series of frightening roars, which had no effect except to amuse the fearless heroine even more.

Ghidorah was visibly injured by all the clashes it had fought during the day, injured and exhausted, but with anger still strong enough to support it in that last battle.

Internally, Quake was also furious and exhausted. Angry at all the evil that monster had done, tired of seeing it get up after every attempt to kill it.

They had used all kinds of weapons at their disposal, without any of them being enough to stop it.

"Hey, bastard, do you remember me?!" she teased, flying in front of the middle head.

Ghidorah noticed that among the little flies that had returned to annoy it, there was the same woman who a few hours earlier had believed it had defeated. Immediately, it forgot about all the other assailants, focusing only on her.

It released rapid and uncontrolled electric discharges, which threw everything down, but also too imprecise to inspire fear into the heroine.

The fleet and squadron moved away, leaving only her on the front line.

One of the pilots paid the price of too much distraction, falling victim to a bundle of electric beams. His companions let him fall, aware that for him the day ended there.

Quake, with the reflexes in full ferment, made sure that the dragon focused all its attention on her. She veered in response to its attempt to hit her, juggling with incredible reflexes between the voluminous jaws that occasionally attempted to grab her in a vise.

She also wanted to try to strike an attack on the monster's heads, except that this would put it on the defensive, thus undermining their hopes of stopping it once and for all.

And then, the figure of Hulk landed with a jump at the titan's feet.

He took a small blue car that was parked near the curb and dipped his fingers between the armour and the door. He lifted the car into the air by spinning it just as Ghidorah was about to hit Quake. The monster's middle head was struck with the hood, and the dragon was forced to stop the attack.

Then, Thor came down from the sky and hit the hydra in the back, causing it to fall to the ground.

"If you want to take a break, raise your hand or wave!" the Asgardian shouted, lowering the Mjolnir between the wings of the creature.

Before the attack could hit, however, Ghidorah snapped its tail. Thor stepped aside just in time.

He made a turn to avoid the next blow as Stormbreaker flew into his hands.

The Hulk jumped into the air and grabbed the middle neck of the beast with both arms, and the head began to shake as if mad. At that point, Thor raised the axe and prepared to behead the creature once more.

The head on the right noticed it. It folded the long wing backwards, grabbing Thor and driving him back onto the sidewalk. At the same time, the left head grabbed Hulk in the jaws and threw him like a baseball. The body of the green goliath rolled several times in the horde of fleas, and the insects slumped over him.

Ghidorah's jaws opened wide, ready to reject another bundle of electric beams at the opponent.

"Hey!"

The dragon turned ... and a telephone pole hit its muzzle, causing it to back away.

"Have you forgotten me?!" Carol shouted, while charging in the direction of the hydra.

It hissed and the stake hit once again the middle head of the monster, which fell against a skyscraper. The superheroine tried to repeat the action, which however was interrupted by a powerful blow from the dragon's tail.

She crashed to the ground, raising a stretch of debris and pieces of road surface.

The anger of the woman became fire, and the fire turned into light. The blond hair took on a reddish colour, like a solar plasma storm that stretches in the cosmic void. The sleeves of the suit turned red, starting to smoke from the edges.

Carol opened her arms wide, releasing a jet of heat that deformed the air all around. A candid and intense light radiates from her eyes. Then she screamed, unloading on the monster a flush of pure cosmic energy, which made it retreat.

Then, the woman clenched her hands into fists and used them to strike the dragon's belly with two powerful blows. The titan leaned forward and regurgitated some dark liquid, probably blood.

Carol continued with an outstretched arm, which made the beast lift off the ground, and some teeth of the middle head jumped away, leaving behind only a disturbing smile riddled with holes.

Finally, Carol took a deep breath. She turned back to the monster, who was trying to stand up and continue fighting.

Carol gritted her teeth as she poured an enormous amount of cosmic power into her hands.

"Die!" she screamed with all the breath she had in her body.

A roar of thunder exploded over the city, and the dragon was swept away by the sonic wave generated by the attack.

It fell on its back, its wings burned, knocking down two other buildings.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The rest of the superheroes didn't see Ghidorah fall to the ground, busy as they were to counter the flea assault, but still heard the rumble generated by the titan's body crashing on the buildings.

Overall, the situation was not the best: Jessica, Matt and Luke were engaged in shoulder-to-shoulder combat, limited by the fact that they did not use any type of weapon to take down their opponents. The same certainly could not be said of the Guardians, most of whom were intent on targeting insects with uninterrupted bursts of firearms, including Jane.

Rhodey, Bucky and Frank were no different, while Sam offered coverage from above.

Gamora and Drax were the only ones who used swords, while Spiderman was offering help where he could, making alternate use of melee combat and occasional web throwing. It was in cases like these that he regretted not having maintained the 'instant kill' mode present in the original suit.

To support him there was T'Challa, whose shuttle had landed a few minutes earlier, currently involved in a duel to the death against a pair of large fleas.

Yes, the situation was certainly not the best. "But it could be worse", Rocket thought.

He glanced sideways at Nebula. "So, you and Thor ..."

"It's important for your future that you don't end that sentence", the cyborg coldly interrupted him.

The raccoon merely rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, don't be a virgin. I think it was time for you to find yourself a boyfriend or a girlfriend, you're always so rigid."

"Thor is not my boyfriend", the woman retorted, grabbing one of the fleas with her mechanical arm and sticking the blaster between its jaws. She opened fire, detonating the insect's head in hundreds of small pieces.

Rocket smiled knowingly. "But you would like him to be."

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you!" Nebula shouted, throwing the body against a couple of insects. Surprised by the attack, the two animals were quickly annihilated by a barrage of blows by the raccoon.

"I could give you some advice, you know? I'm an expert in many seduction techniques."

"I wonder how many times they worked", Nebula muttered, throwing a knife between the eyes of another beast.

Rocket shrugged. "Well, they worked with Mantis."

"Wait ... are you and Mantis together?!" the cyborg asked, her face adorned with a shocked expression.

The genetic experiment stared at her oddly. "Yes, for more than a month."

"But…how…when…"

"I thought it was obvious."

"It wasn't obvious at all!"

"Stop talking and keep shooting!" Frank yelled behind the duo, while he was using a pair of small machine guns to kill the fleas in front of him.

The aforementioned creatures had begun to attack them with greater enthusiasm, as if the anger that Ghidorah was feeling at that precise moment had also projected into their tiny brains.

They snarled, screeched and jumped as if mad, without giving the heroes a moment to breath.

"There are too many!" Matt shouted, avoiding for a breath that one of the insects would bite him in the ankles.  
**  
**Beside him, Jessica gave him an angry look.

"You don't say!" the woman growled, grabbing the animal and using it as a club to remove one who was trying to hit Luke in the back.

And as the creatures advanced, forcing the heroes to back off, the communication channel of the Avengers began to crackle.

"Awww, guys, don't tell me that you said 'Avengers Assemble' without us!" a male voice - that the various heroes recognized instantly – exclaimed.

The fighters looked up to the sky, while a shuttle similar to the Quinjet overtook them with a rumble, stumbling some of the fleas.

"This is because you were late!" Rhodey exclaimed, although now he had a big smile on his face.

Inside the aircraft, Scott Lang rolled his eyes.

"We weren't late. Just ... busy with something important", he said with a conspiratorial grin to his wife, sitting in the driver's seat of the shuttle.

"More important than this?" Bucky asked, whose tone of voice showed a slight touch of disbelief.

"Believe me, you will thank us soon", Scott replied casually. "You should cover your eyes and nose."

Below them, the various Avengers looked at each other perplexed.

"Why?" Spiderman asked, landing next to the group.

"Do as he says!" Hope exclaimed, startling the wall-climber.

Scott was certainly not the most reliable person, but neither him nor his companions would ever have the courage to challenge a direct order from that woman**.** Sometimes she could be really terrifying.

They raised their hands to their noses and closed their eyes, urging the Guardians and Defenders to do the same.

Inside the shuttle, Hope looked at her husband. "Release it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Scott exclaimed, pressing a red button that stood out on the controls of the vehicle.

The belly of the aircraft split in two, revealing a hidden compartment.

Then, a strange yellow substance, similar to field fertilizer, started to rain on the whole area, following the trajectory of the shuttle.

The heroes perceived a distinct smell of rotten eggs mixed with vinegar, while a sticky liquid covered their bodies and those of the fleas. But apart from the unpleasant aroma, they remained completely unaffected.

They opened their eyes, finding themselves in front of an unexpected scene.

Suddenly, the flea movements had a sudden hesitation. They stumbled between steps, falling to the ground and spinning around like spinning tops.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell is going on?" he whispered, observing the strange behaviour of the insects.

Seconds later, Scott and Hope's shuttle landed next to the group.

The couple escaped from the aircraft, dressed in their Ant-Man and Wasp suits, and walked up to them.

"Just a little experiment", Hope said, as they observe the swarm of insects with evident satisfaction. "The substance we threw was synthesized by the harmful spray of a Bomber Beetle, and acts as an insect repellent, attacking the target's central nervous system. It has no effect on humans, apart from an unpleasant smell, while for animals like them ... well, to make a long story short, whatever the mental connection between these creatures and the dragon was… now it's gone."

Jessica stared at her sideways. "And is it good?"

"Well…kinda", Scott replied. "Until a couple of minutes ago you were surrounded by about a thousand killer fleas who responded to the commands of a space hydra."

"And now?"

"Now we are only surrounded by a thousand murderous fleas abandoned to themselves after who knows how many years spent serving that thing. They will be much easier to eliminate", Hope answered, causing anticipated smiles by those present.

It was time for revenge.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

When the mental connection between Ghidorah and the fleas was severed, the creature's heads sensed a painful twinge in the temple, a sensation never experienced in their entire life span.

They widened their eyes, aware that they had just lost their army for some absurd and mysterious reason.

Anger flooded the titan's body as it spread its wings and roared in the direction of the sky.

"You will burn!" the middle head exclaimed.

At the same time, dense masses of black and purple clouds began to concentrate on the beast, and the wind grew in intensity.

Carol, Thor, Hulk and Daisy went on guard duty, anticipating an impending attack. Strange's followers were no different, and they summoned golden shields to protect themselves. This action saved the lives of many of them.

The huge concentration of clouds poured down on the ground like a waterfall, trapping the whole area in a gigantic pitch-coloured sphere.

Many of the sorcerers were blown by the power of the winds, while lightning and thunderbolts forced the Avengers to separate.

Carol's incandescent mass tried to advance, rising even higher into the dark atmosphere. She strove to be even brighter, pushing herself against the darkness. But the shadows opposed each other, as if they had a life of their own, resisting.

They pushed from top to bottom in an attempt to crush her.

Carol flew over Ghidorah to the centre of that cyclone. She moved in the air and launched another blast of energy, illuminating the pitch-coloured clouds. Under her feet the darkness opened, revealing hundreds of bewildered fleas that moved like drunken wayfarers.

Another resistance led her to land. Here the intense night seemed to be even heavier. Darkness pressed against her, weakening her light like an ocean of ink.

Carol released enough energy to melt metal, and for a few moments the shadows faded away.

In the heart of the darkness ... she saw the immense figure of Ghidorah.

When the beast's eyes focused on her, the waves of clouds and thunderbolts spread in one last attack. The shadows trembled as the air began to overheat.

Carol wasted no time. She put her hands in front of her and released an intense blast of cosmic energy.

The explosion was very close and created a chasm in the buildings that were behind the creature, spreading for two more blocks until it vanished, leaving part of the pavement melted.

Ghidorah's body was wrapped in flames and the beast's skin began to burn.

With a hiss, the wind around Carol rose, filling the empty hole formed by that cage of clouds. The moon returned to the sky and the street lamps came back on.

With a clear view, Thor joined the woman, lifting both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir and loading them with the thunder of the storm. Carol did the same with her hands, recalling all the cosmic energy she had in her body.

"Are you ready?" she asked to the god of thunder, who in response merely nodded.

The three-headed monster sensed the surge of energy that was about to hit it. Ghidorah felt it burn even before it hit its body, through its wounds, in its eyes, everywhere, and it knew that this time it would have been impossible for it to avoid such a powerful attack.

It could only counterattack with a bundle of electric beams, hoping to still have enough power in its body to counter the offensive of its opponents.

The wave of energy met the obstacle, slowing down suddenly. The lightning bolt tightened on the beam of cosmic energy and light, sinking into it like a clawed hand, before ending up crumbled by the enormous power of that combined attack.

Ghidorah was shot in the chest. The scales were consumed little by little, then it fell to the meat, and when this too ended liquefied, it advanced on the rest of the body, consuming it slowly, meter by meter.

The hydra screamed, planting its feet on the ground. It grunted and complained, drooling.

The beam gradually weakened, but the monster's body continued to evaporate one piece at a time.

Both Thor and Carol gritted their teeth, drawing on their last reserves of energy to give the attack the strength necessary to destroy it.

The beam strengthened, releasing the dragon and pushing it to hit the umpteenth building. Still little and they would have made it, still little and ...

The palace collapsed, and on it Ghidorah, releasing an explosion that affects the whole surrounding area, raise a cloud several kilometres high.

Cries of joy and relief were heard throughout the city, while the charred and steaming body of the beast stood out as the cloud poured over the ruined metropolis.

Carol and Thor flew low, dangling their legs, and drew a trail of lightning and energy through the surviving fleas, knocking out the last remaining insects, before reappearing in front of the rest of the Avengers.

They welcomed them with looks that ranged from relief to respect to pure joy.

"Holy shit, that was amazing!" Spiderman shouted, whose smile was palpable despite the presence of the mask. "Do you think you got it?"

"The only way to be more certain ..." Carol began, glancing quickly at Ghidorah's body, "... it would have been to bomb it with a dozen nuclear missiles. "

Peter raised his fist, launching himself into forward and hugging the woman.

She blushed scarlet, trying to ignore the strange smell of rotten eggs that permeated the vigilante's suit.

"P-Peter, you know that I don't like being hugged in public", she stammered embarrassed, causing a loud laugh by the others. Even Frank allowed himself a little smile in front of such a scene.

Meanwhile, the vigilante broke away from the heroine, not in the slightest regret of what he had just done.

The woman let out a resigned sigh, before turning a resolute expression on Thor.

"Let's finish it", she said coldly, pointing both hands towards Ghidorah.

The god of thunder smiled fiercely, preparing to give it the coup de grace, aware that the monster could never survive a second attack, even with its advanced regeneration abilities.

They began to walk towards the now defenceless creature.

Meanwhile, Ghidorah remained listening to the group's conversation, filtering the sound of their voices between the many background noises and the whistles of pain that screamed from inside.

Its view was obscured, from that position it could only scrutinize the pavement cracked under the weight of its body, and the remains of what were the buildings on which it had fallen.

It was breathing hard, crushed by its own mass, its muscles aching, its forearms flaring with burning from all the attacks it had received. It had not felt so tired and weak from its confrontation with Odin.

It felt as every cubic meter of its body was evoking requests for help, but perhaps it was the effect of cosmic energy, which had overcome its bodily defences, penetrating the tissues and corroding them from the inside.

It felt anger, an ardent anger, held back only by its wounds. If at that moment it got up to try to attack them again… Odin's son and the self-proclaimed protector of the universe would probably have sent it back to the carpet, thus denying it any chance to change the situation.

As always, if it really wanted to win against these enemies, so full of resources, it had to use its brain, the most powerful weapon that still remained in its arsenal.  
If only it could recharge itself, the outcome would certainly have been different: currently, it didn't have the time to do that.

Even if it tried again, the outcome wouldn't have produced the expected effects, since there were no sources of energy in the whole devastated area ...

"Or maybe yes?" the middle head suddenly wondered.

Thinking carefully about that question, Ghidorah realized that in the thrill of the battle it had never had the opportunity to take time to dwell on something unusual, but now that it was there, lying down on the ground, the opportunity was propitious and inviting.

Avoiding to move, so as not to arouse the alert towards its opponents, the dragon contracted its muscles and concentrated on the road.

Ghidorah could feel it. Hundreds of electric waves ... no, thousands of beams that travelled the whole city like a sort of highway. Maybe it was the source of energy that powered this metropolis.

Could it use the thing to its advantage? After all, it looked like electricity, much like what it used as a form of attack. It didn't know if it would work ... but it was certainly not the time to be picky.

With a lightning movement, it sank its face into the road surface, piercing it from side to side and closing its teeth on a large cable.

The reaction was instantaneous.

The monster dilated its pupils like plates, while billions of volts began to pour over its body, illuminating it like a light bulb. Charred skin, muscles and wings began to regenerate at an alarming rate.

The Avengers straightened up suddenly, while the largest blackout that the United States had ever faced was taking place across America. All cities remained in the dark in a fraction of a few seconds.

And then, the beast spread its wings, rising from the ground and pouring bundles of energy large enough to wrap the whole of New York in a golden cage.

All the Wakandan planes and shuttles that found themselves in the sky were instantly pulverized, with a single and simple attack. The same fate fell to the sorcerers who could not avoid the lightning strikes.

When the wave of discharges crossed the metropolis, overwhelming whoever was nearby, it was like the detonation of one hundred ground-to-air missiles fired simultaneously, all concentrated within a radius of just over one hundred meters.

Many spectators were killed by the backlash. The bones of the older ones were pulverized, while the strongest ones still had to deal with a force beyond measure.

The surviving skyscrapers, for obvious reasons, could not cope with the stresses, crumbling in a landslide of rubble that went to pour all over the whole city.

The survivors holed up in the subway suffered from the shock wave to a lesser extent than those who were still outdoors, but not for this they could feel safer: the resonance made the road vibrate, which collapsed on their heads.

The entire history of New York was swept away at that precise moment, now turning into yet another danger for the survivors, who found themselves forced to crouch so as not to be killed by the rain of debris.

The resonance also vibrated throughout the state, spreading a high-pitched screech that remembered the sound of a wet finger passing over the edge of a glass, reaching Washington.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

Carol Danvers woke up with her eyes on the sky.

The first thing she saw were the remains of the Wakandan fleet, whose steaming pieces had spilled all over the area. But where were the others?

Thor was standing next to her, his gaze as lost as his emotions, supported by Jane and Nebula, both visibly injured.

And there was also Peter, who was taking care of her. Had he been injured? Or was he simply helping her regain consciousness? And then...who else?

The more her conscience re-emerged from the ocean of illogical, the more the presences around her that lay motionless like bronze statues took on concrete identities.

She recognized Sam, a few steps from Bucky Barnes' body. The first had his face closed in a grim look, while the other ... the other didn't move. He was almost completely naked, with burnt skin, on which occasional lightning flashed. And his eyes ... Carol would never forget them. They were turned towards the sky, barred and soulless ... dead.

An awareness that also reached Sam, who gave a desperate cry full of anger and sadness towards the clouded vault.

Then the woman understood: Bucky had stood in front of his teammate, to protect him from Ghidorah's attack. He had sacrificed himself to save him.

She continued to look around, breathing heavily, unaware that Peter was trying to speak to her.

She recognized Mantis, who wept over the figure of Drax along with Rocket and Groot. The humanoid had his eyes closed and his chest ripped open by a steaming red hole.

She recognized Gamora, and with her Quill, who lay in her arms, panting, visibly injured, but still alive.

Vaguely, she could hear glimpses of a conversation.

"Why?" the Zen Whobery whispered, stroking the face of the man who had thrown himself on her to save her life. Her green skin was wet with bitter tears, mixed with scarlet liquid and dust. "You could have died ..."

"Because…y-you are worth it", the ex Ravager muttered, before coughing a thick stream of blood.

Carol assumed that the only reason he was still alive was because of his Celestial biology.

And then there was the Hulk, now in the guise of Bruce Banner, with his body slightly burnt, sitting above a pile of rubble and surrounded by those sorcerers survived to the attack. They were less than a dozen.

A few meters away, there was Jessica Jones, who was helping Daredevil to get up.

Finally, Carol recognized the last figure lying on the ground: James Rhodes, aka War Machine. Motionless, in the middle of the debris, with the metal suit still lit by the lightning that had hit him in full, killing him instantly.

T'Challa, Daisy Johnson, Frank Castle, Luke Cage, Hope and Scott Lang were beside him, with dark and heavy expressions, covered in ash, soot and burns.

"No ... w-why... we ... we had won ... we ..."

Someone took her by the shoulder, calling her by name, but for a long time she couldn't hear anything, except for a sharp whistle inside her ears. Fortunately, her organs were much more resistant than those of a normal human being, otherwise at that point she would have found herself chronically deaf. After all, she and Thor were the closest to the epicentre of the attack.

Peter spoke to her, urging her to react. Using sentences like "Please, look at me!" that she caught only in flashes.

He supported her, until he was sure she could stand on her own. "How do you feel? There's something wrong? Carol?!"

He slapped her a couple of times.

At the third time, the woman's hand stopped him. "Yes ... I'm fine now ... I'm fine ..."

Before she could end that sentence, all the superheroes turned around, attracted by the steps of the one who was responsible for all this.

Ghidorah was advancing on them, red eyes adorned with an impassive glint.

This time, if it decided to attack them ... it would be the end for the Avengers. And even if Carol had flown up to get away from the area, she would never have flown fast enough to avoid the beast's trajectory. She was too tired.

At that precise moment, a shadow appeared in front of her.

Carol held a start in surprise. She saw Peter come between her and the monster, his feet planted on the ground and his body as straight as that of a soldier heading for the gallows.

She felt her heart skip a beat as that brave boy offered himself as the last bulwark of defence to protect her.

"Don't you dare touch her", the vigilante hissed, his eyes fixed on the dragon.

It stopped abruptly.

The middle head raised an eyebrow, apparently caught off guard by the Avenger's action.

"Even now, in the face of the inevitable ... you dare to challenge me", the beast said, its face adorned with an impassive expression.

When the wall-climber didn't respond, the dragon let out a sigh.

"I have to admit it, boy. This planet and its champions have my respect", it declared almost reluctantly. "I recognized your fighting spirit and your strength, worthy of the most renowned warriors in the cosmos. For this reason, with a clear mind and a heavy heart, I bow before your attempts to defeat me."

And, with his great surprise, the beast did just that. All three head bowed in unison. Not in a mocking or malicious way ... but in a respectful, almost solemn, way.

After that, they stared at the group with decidedly more intense glances.  
**  
**"However, our battle will end here. But don't worry, I'll make sure it is narrated for the aeons to come!" the middle head exclaimed loudly. "I will spread the song of how the Avengers managed to put Ghidorah in difficulty, as only the gods of Asgard had managed to do. And this is my promise, as long as I have breath in my body."

An inexorable silence seemed to fall over the entire city, as if the storm that was raging over the metropolis had stopped suddenly.

This quiet, however, was interrupted just a minute later by a single and simple question.

"Why?" Peter whispered, attracting the hydra's attention.

"Why…what?" the monster asked, tilting his head slightly.

The vigilante took a deep breath.

"With all the power you have ... with all your strength and your presumed wisdom ... you could do so much good, save so many lives ... and instead you use them to destroy. Why?" he repeated aloud.

Ghidorah tightened both eyelids. "Because this is what I am, boy. Nothing more, nothing less."

"No, that's not true!" Peter exclaimed, surprising the alien. "Once, someone very important to me ... said something that changed my life forever: with great power…comes great responsibility**. **Every person ... every individual ... is simply the result of their choices. You are what you choose to be, you have no need to destroy!"

He took a step forward.  
"Please, leave this world alone. We have already lost so much ... please", he said with a desperate tone.

Ghidorah merely scrutinized him for what seemed an interminable time. Then, it curled both lips into a chilling smile, which made the Avenger's heart sink.

"I want to confess a little secret to you, mortal: I know everything, you know? The past, the present ... the thousand faces of the end. All. Now you see just the past and the present, like so many other creatures: you have no higher faculties than memory and perception", the beast hissed, snapping its tongue. "But my species, my boy, has a very different mind. We see the universe as if we were at the top of a mountain: all the time, all the space. In an instant, we see the passionate vision and the tumult!"

Having said that, the hydra seemed to shrug.

"Not that things fail because of us. Dragons don't mind your insignificant free will. Ugh! Listen to me, boy. If you, with your knowledge of the present and the past, remember that a certain man slipped down a chair, or drowned in a river, doesn't mean that he slipped or drowned because of you", it explained with an almost patient tone, as if it was trying to teach something to Peter. "Am I right? Of course I am! It happened and you know it, but knowing it is neither the cause . It's obvious! Well, the same can be applied to me. My knowledge of the future doesn't cause the future. I just see it, just like the creatures at your lowest level remember past things. And even if I interfere, even then I don't alter the future, I just do what I have seen from the beginning."

It returned to stare at the vigilante.

"I do what I am destined to do, because I would have no way to avoid it. And if I take pleasure in doing it ... well, it's better for me! Are you satisfied with my answer? Because I'm really tired of talking about free will and intercession", it said dismissively.

At the same time, the creature's long necks began to glow with a familiar golden light.

"I hope the universe will remember you", it finished.

The air around the area began to vibrate with static electricity, followed by the inevitable crackle of death. Nothing could have stopped that attack.

Avengers, Guardians, Defenders ... all of them were aware of one simple truth: they were going to die, and the rest of humanity would follow them shortly after. This was truly the end.

Peter hugged Carol's figure, holding her close ... and closed his eyes.

_"Mr. Stark ... Uncle Ben ... I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough...__"_

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Dum, Dum, Duuuuuuuuuuuuum !**

**Yep, I just killed Bucky, Drax and Rhodey...and I'm not over yet. Is this the end of the Avengers? Mayebe yes...maybe not...**

**In the next chapter I'll explain the story of Ghidorah.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's a new chapter!**

**I wish you a good reading ;)**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 14:**

A bullet of purple light crashed straight against Wanda's telekinetic barrier.

The explosion poured a huge amount of crystals and asphalt chips into an area of about ten meters, but the woman remained completely unaffected and simply turned her head in the direction of the point where the attack had started.

Strange stared back at her, his eyes lit by a faint glow. He put his right leg forward, assuming a battle position, raised his hands and made a couple of quick movements.

It was then that the air around the man filled with crystals, white and shiny under the moonlight. As if from nowhere, the splinters began to rotate faster than any device created by modern science.

After about a couple of seconds, a tornado of snow and ice shot over Wanda, generating a whirlwind at least twenty meters high.

The witch kept an impassive expression. At the same time, the column of crystals slammed straight into her, generating a shock wave that made the street lamps of the whole area tremble.

Strange, however, was not yet finished. He stretched his arms forward and began manipulating the spell in an attempt to create a ball of condensed crystals.

"Wanda, I know you're in there. You have to fight it!" he shouted, trying to contain the woman.

He could already feel the telekinetic energy making its way over the barrier. He couldn't hold her long.

And then, as if from nowhere, an impulse of air opened the cage, revealing the unscathed shape of the Scarlet Witch.

She reached out, trapping Strange's neck in a telekinetic grip. The Sorcerer gasped, being lifted from the ground, unable to escape that invisible assault.

At that precise moment, a strange golden ribbon-like filament wrapped around Wanda's ankle. The former Avenger looked down just as the whip tensed, causing her to fall to the ground.

Turning her head slightly, Scarlet Witch captured Wong's gaze, who came to assist his friend.

Wanda let go to focus on the new threat, giving Strange time to catch his breath.

The man wasted no time and raised his hands in the air and materialized a strange bow between his fingers. It seemed to be made of flames.

A faint light of blue colour began to materialize on the rope of the weapon, in the image of an arrow. And then, when the glow increased in intensity, Strange took a deep breath ... and popped.

The blow hissed in the air. The result, when the enemy fire reached the woman, was decidedly exciting.

The explosion was even more exaggerated than Strange had initially expected.

As the blue flames rose to the sky, the first cries and screams of the spectators who had sensed the shock wave caused by the kickback began to be heard.

The titanic attack ripped through the middle of the night. And when the dust rose ... Wanda was still standing, almost completely unharmed, if not for a few burns on her clothes.

"She doesn't seems in the mood to converse", Wong commented, landing next to Strange.

The man stared at him.  
"You don't say", he muttered in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the opponent.

Wanda gave no sign of having heard them and merely raised both arms to the sky, lifting dozens of cars from the road surface.

Beside the wizard, Wong let out a resigned sigh.  
"Stephen, you know well that there's only one way to make this poor girl come to her senses", he said with a de facto tone.

Strange gave him a sideways glance. "Do you think you can keep her busy for a while?"

"I wouldn't have proposed such a course of action if I couldn't", Wong replied with a loud snort.

The wizard nodded, before disappearing with a flicker of his red cloak. At the same time, Wong turned to Wanda.

As she approached him with a slow and marked step - the cars still suspended above her - the monk made some movements with his hands.  
A strange crystalline substance began to envelop the surrounding area.

As soon as the compound came into contact with the cars, they began to creak. Then, lightning bolts and discharges of an apparently electric nature began to twirl around the area, lifting shards in every direction and destroying the cars in mid-air.

Bangs and peals rang out the length of the neighbourhood as the windows of the buildings shattered, pouring pieces of glass onto the roadway. And with each discharge ... the air travelled by the blow became black rock, similar to sandstone.

Wanda looked at everything curiously, while a long series of stalactites sprang from the asphalt surface. Instead of avoiding them, however, the woman simply evoked a much denser telekinetic barrier than the previous one.

As soon as the sharp points came into contact with the shield, they broke, disintegrating as if they were made of dust.

Wong made a second series of hand movements, but this time Scarlet Witch didn't give him time to complete the spell.

She jumped up to him and grabbed him by the throat, using her telekinesis to hoist him off the ground.

The man began to struggle, trying in every way to escape that deadly hold. But Wanda didn't even move and started to squeeze. She looked more like an automaton than a real person.

Then the former Avenger felt a sudden shift of air behind her. She turned, just as Strange laid both hands on her temples.

"Open your mind, Wanda", he whispered.

And then, the world around her became pain and penumbra.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

At first nothing was heard. Then there was a spark, a sizzle that confused the already frayed cobwebs of dreams and memories.

In the spaces of his mind, Strange reviewed his entire life, revisiting the great battles, wars, decisions made, which had altered the fate of the universe for better or worse.

The triumphs, recent and past ones. And none of this, he decided, would prove interesting enough for a being like Ghidorah, who kept memories of all the major wars and disputes in the history of the known universe.

Shortly thereafter, with a crackle and a roar, a discharge of blue-white electricity crossed him, flooding the meanders of his brain as the tide fills a cave.

His soul jumped violently, dragged into a world of gloomy darkness.

He shouted and became aware again, immersed in a sort of scarlet sleet mixed with white flashes.

Wanda - or rather, her mental projection - was in the middle of the darkness, wrapped in many blood-coloured tendrils, similar to roots. It almost seemed like she was sleeping.

Strange floated up to her, as if that place had not the slightest hint of gravity. However, when he tried to touch Scarlet Witch's body, a sudden shock wave pushed him away.  
"Wanda!" he screamed, trying to get closer. The cocoon's reaction was the same.

Its job was to trap Wanda in the recesses of her mind, and it would continue to do so with ruthless efficiency.

"Fuck", the sorcerer swore.

Then, an unusual thought crossed his mind.

Ghidorah and Wanda ... were now connected. The dragon's mind was concentrating all its energies to trap that of the Scarlet Witch. Such a feat, considering how powerful the former Avenger was, had to require a huge expenditure of energy.

Perhaps - and this was a perhaps the size of a house - the dragon had left its thoughts defenceless.

Strange began to evaluate the pros and cons of such a possibility.

Logically, by entering the dragon's mind, he could have analysed its memories. And perhaps he could have found a weak point with which they could have defeated it.

It was a gamble, Ghidorah could notice him at any time ... but it was worth a try. He just hoped that his companions were keeping the hydra busy enough to keep it from noticing the imminent intrusion. Otherwise ... well, the beast would probably have reduced his brain to a colander.

And so, Strange's mind opened once more ... wandering into Ghidorah's past.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

_**Billions of years before**_

Beyond the mighty, fortified walls of Asgard, beyond large gates, sidereal spaces and abysses, where the universe and its planets turned into uncultivated territory, there was a dead star older than the memory of the Aesir, a wasteland that existed since before their birth.

And in the valleys that extended on the surface of that now fallen world, frozen swamps and bottomless lakes led back to a sea of rock. Small hills riddled with quarries and tunnels dug in the stone slipped like larvae into the flesh of dead giants.

In one of these caves, something huge and frightening was crouching in the dirt and darkness, in a can of light that leaked from the entrance of the cave.

It was a grotesque beast, as if its creator had in mind a hideous amalgam between a lizard and a large bat from the Moons of Dagon.

It had blood-red eyes, and its rough mane seemed to be woven with gold and silver threads.

It had many names. Someone had called it/her Nimue, others Nerthus, Goddess of Pestilence, and still others Lady of the Void.

Coincidentally, this creature was something that crawled out of the darkest twists and turns of the cosmos, a tremendous ghost that emerged from the void between dimensions, created after the Big Bang.

She had lived for a long time in the cave that Odin now called the tomb of dragons, and in hidden caves that led to unspeakable places. And it was with her that Bor, father of Odin himself, had fathered his first child ... Ghidorah.

The nameless creature didn't know if anyone of her race still existed in the big, large universe, and so she believed she was the last.

She was a descendant of dragons, a shape-shifting species of great intellect and power generated in the early days of creation, when the Earth was still young, and then hunted by other races, pushed over countless millennia into oblivion.

She also had a mother, whom she remembers vaguely, especially when she woke up from a dream or when she fell asleep. If she ever had a father, his memory was gone forever.

Long before the arrival of the Asgardians, on this earth there were beings who worshiped her in sacred temples and in and in secret caves like the one where she now lived.

She had always welcomed their prayers and offerings, the tributes and the respect they had for her. The fear they had of her kept her safe, but she had never been a goddess, just something more terrible and more beautiful than mere mortals.

Now she was a legend, glimpsed by those few unfortunate travellers who decided to stop on that dead star. Pilots and explorers exchanged fearful whispers of an evil beast. But both she and all her ancestors would have been completely and forever forgotten by the Universe ... if it hadn't been for Ghidorah.

Born deformed, from the union of three puppies fused together in their mother's womb (perhaps because of Bor's Asgardian blood), the future destroyer of countless worlds dreamed of the day in which it would finally leave its lair.

Behind it, at the edge of the cave, its fat progenitor, so pale as to emit her own luminescence, continued to sleep, old and bitter in the gloomy underground room.  
Swollen hag, confused, exhausted by suffering. Guilty, so imagined the little Ghidorah, of some now forgotten crime, perhaps ancestral.

Not that the little killer still possessed the foresight that would characterize it in the future.

It was still unable to analyse the dusty mechanisms of its wretched life.

That night, in its sleep, the mother clung to it as if to crush it.

"Why are we here?" Ghidorah asked. "Why do we stay in this putrid and smelly den?"

The creature looked at it out of the corner of her eyes, trembling at its words.  
"Don't ask!" she implored, through the fangs. "Don't ask!"

In a distant time, little Ghidorah thought it was a terrible secret. But now ...

It gave her a shrewd look.  
_"She will tell me at the right time"_, it thought once. But she never said anything to it. It had continued to wait in vain. But very soon ... it would no longer be forced to do so.  
The three heads rose in unison, peering into the space beyond the cave.

"One day we'll leave this place ... and then we'll see all those stars!"

* * *

**XXXXX**

* * *

_**Present**_

Strange saw many other things. Ghidorah's first meals, the killing of its mother, its coming into the cosmos that was beyond the cave ... and then, he saw an event that stood out from all the others. A meeting not seen in the annals of history, between the huge dragon and another monster that for centuries had terrorized countless worlds.

A meeting ... that left in the sorcerer's heart a feeling of surprise and anger that could never have been cancelled.

Now he knew exactly what he had to do.

He again placed his hands on the cocoon surrounding the Scarlet Witch figure, appealing to all his strength to avoid being thrown back.

"Open your eyes, Wanda."

And, after saying these words, he began to share the scene he had just witnessed with his mind.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

_**A few centuries earlier**_

In the eyes of infinity, a beginning and an end are almost completely indistinguishable.

The explosion that ends one universe generates another. The dinosaurs went extinct at the same time that the asteroid that exterminated them diverted from its orbit. A man who dies from a gunshot died at the exact moment the bullet was created.

In the eyes of infinity, these events, although hours or millions of years apart, occur over a hummingbird's heartbeat, tied together on a course traced by fate. Or maybe from death.

Following this principle, half of the universe died on the day Thanos was born.

This event took place on a Friday a few centuries ago, on a small planet called Titan.

Thanos came from an alien race known as the Eternals, but for unknown reasons he was born ... different. With purple skin, a misshapen chin and a more massive build. His parents called this condition Deviant Syndrome.

His mother Sui-San is said to have gone mad the exact moment she laid her eyes on him ... but that's not entirely true. In fact, she went out of her mind when she said his name for the first time: Thanos.

It was certainly not the first name she wanted to give to the little boy, but when she looked into his pitch black eyes ... it came out of her. She had never heard that name before. She would also tell you that madness is a perfectly logical reaction if you stare into the eyes of a universal constant. You too would go crazy if you gave birth to a sort of demigod.

From then on, things got pretty worse.

As he grew older, Thanos began to change and experience his deviant biology, increasing his strength, his intellect and his cruelty, with the sole purpose of saving his race from extinction. Unfortunately it failed.

And so he began to wander the cosmos with one goal in mind: to prevent other planets from suffering the same fate as his own, eliminating 50% of their population.  
To do this, Thanos became a conqueror, a tyrant, a killer of countless lives.

At some point in his life, he also became the ruler of Chitauri Prime, the mother planet of the despotic Chitauri people. You may have heard of them: they are scary.

Maybe you know them for their large army of stolen and readapted warships, each equipped with a battery of torpedoes. Or you have certainly heard of Leviathans, the trademark of this breed, biomechanical hybrids similar to giant sharks, used as weapons. Each of which could accommodate hundreds of chitauri soldiers piloting light eclipse-drive lifeboats capable of overcoming any corvette.

Everyone knows these things, of course ... but the most frightening of their horrors lay low, on the surface of the planet.

Because of its unusual and irregular orbit, in fact, the crust of Chitauri Prime was almost always several degrees below zero. The chitauri didn't seem to care. In fact, in their infamous gladiator tournaments, the splashes of blood that splashed from the fighters often froze in mid-air, creating small swirls of enchanting red crystals.

War snow, so they called it. The still young chitauri were collected and fed, an adequate first step in joining an ancient lineage of butcher warriors who had carved the invincible name of Chitauri Prime in the universe for hundreds of years.

Ghidorah had almost completely forgotten the stories about this race ... until it arrived on their planet just two hours ago.

"Who is your king?" the beast's middle head hissed, in front of the huge mountain of corpses in front of it. Around the dragon, thousands of red crystals floated in the void.

A chitauri decidedly bigger than the others, armed with a large halberd, took a step beyond the dead bodies of his brothers.  
"I am the king, Lord Ghidorah", he said respectfully.

The huge dragon stared at him with an impassive look. Then, it pursed its lips in an evil smile.

"Liar", it said through its fangs, making the alien jump.

"No ... no, I swear! Please, I can give you ..."

He didn't have a chance to finish the sentence. A bundle of gravitons quickly reduced him to a small pile of smoking ash.

"A king doesn't beg", Ghidorah commented with contempt.

It turned to the rest of the barge army, ready to pour the same fate on them. Before it could do that, however, a distinct figure made his way through the crowd.  
The dragon watched with curiosity as the alien army fanned out, allowing the newcomer to pass unimpeded.

He was about three meters tall, with a muscular build covered with a gold armour. The distinctive feature was certainly the purple skin and the powerful jaw, whose chin was adorned with deep incisions that also covered part of the face.

Ghidorah had never seen such a creature and found itself grinning at the pleasant discovery.

"Did you come to save your soldiers?" it asked with a mocking tone, aware that this alien was the true commander of the army it had faced for the last two hours.

The creature stopped in front of the living chitauri, tightening both his eyelids.  
"No ... I came for you", he replied coldly.

The left head burst into loud laughter, while the right one licked its lips in anticipation.

"Interesting", the middle one commented, carefully scrutinizing the mysterious opponent. "Do you really expect to be able to defeat me without a weapon?"

"Even without a weapon, I still remain Thanos of Titan. And for you, creature ... it will be enough!" he shouted with determination.

And then they fought. They fought for the next three days, changing the surface of the planet under the power of their assaults, like skilled death sculptors.

The chitauri remained to stare at them during the entire duration of the clash, helpless spectators in front of a pair of gods ... Until Ghidorah began to get the upper end.

The hydra and Thanos stared at each other, wounded and panting, although the dragon was certainly the one best placed between the two, thanks to its regenerating factor.

"You have great power and will, young titan. I admit it, your performance impressed me a lot", the middle head said, apparently satisfied with the turn that the events had taken. After all, it was a long time since it fought an opponent worthy of its time.

Thanos spat out a trickle of blood.

"The most difficult campaigns often require a strong will", he muttered with a tired voice, arousing an intrigued gaze by the dragon.

"And which campaign are you working on, if I can ask?"  
**  
**After that question, the last member of the Titans told Ghidorah his story, the events that had led to the destruction of his world and the mission he had imposed after the death of his loved ones. Not so much to entertain the creature as, rather, to extend his life in any way he deems necessary.

"An interesting goal ... and quite noble, to be honest", the hydra commented, once the warlord had finished the story.

Despite the situation, Thanos found himself smiling.

"Your words cheer me up, not many people see the good I'm trying to do. Although, in recent times, I have begun to doubt the efficiency of my work", he said with a resigned sigh.

Ghidorah raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for the titan to elaborate a similar statement further.

"I am only one person, great dragon ... and there are countless worlds in the cosmos. Even if I dedicate every second of my life to find and heal them ... I wouldn't be able to scratch even the surface of this vast universe", he admitted almost reluctantly, and then lowered his gaze to his hands covered in frozen blood. "Maybe I should stop. After all ... how can I compete with the inevitable?"

To his surprise, however, Ghidorah's middle head barked out a loud laughter, arousing bewildered looks by the other two.

"Ah, Thanos ... why should you stop? You improve them, my boy! Don't you realize it? You stimulate them!" the beast exclaimed, spreading its immense wings. "You force them to think and plan. You inspire their science, religion, everything that makes them what they are, as long as they last. You are the threat through which they learn to define themselves. The exile, the captivity, the death from which they shy away, the clear proof of their mortality, of their abandonment. And you make sure that they recognize it, that they embrace it!"

It held a limb forward, pointing to Thanos with its only claw.

"You are life. Or, at least - a representation of it: inseparable as the climber and the mountain. If you move away you will be immediately replaced, of course ... but it will not be the same thing. The universe already has many threats, but none of them are like you: you bring death to give life! Therefore, put apart such sentimentality. If the ultimate goal of your project is life, don't abandon it! Scare the various races scattered around the cosmos until they reach glory! There is no difference in the end: matter and movement, simple and complex. It makes no difference. Death, transfiguration. Ash to ash. Death ... which brings new life", it ended with a whisper.

Thanos looked down, apparently contemplating the hydra's words.

After a few moments of silence, he raised his head and asked: "Even if what you say was true ... my time, as a mortal creature, is however limited. How can my work be of any importance in the great scheme of things?"

"A legitimate question. You would need a way to act on a larger scale. And maybe I know one", Ghidorah replied.

Thanos raised an eyebrow.  
"And what could it be?" he asked curiously.

At the same time, chilling smiles began to form on the beast's faces.

"The Infinity Stones, objects of great power", the dragon revealed, causing an inclination of the head by the warlord.

"I've never heard of such things", Thanos said, with a doubtful air. "Besides, I don't see how they could be useful to me. I already have the power to destroy worlds."

If possible, the grin of the middle head seemed to get bigger. "Your intuition is acute, your mind strong, yet your education is lacking. Have you never heard of Celestials?"

"No", Thanos admitted, without a moment of hesitation.

The light of revelation flashed in Ghidorah's eyes. It licked its lips with its forked tongue, pointed a triumphant claw towards the sky and began to narrate.

"In the aftermath of the creation of the universe, the Celestials arose! Beings of enormous power, stature and influence. They are to us what divinities are to ants, more powerful than even the formidable Asgardians. According to some, they were spawned in the heat of the Big Bang, while others argue that they began to exist billions of years later, before the birth of intelligence and civilizations across the universe. Regardless of their origins, they were the first of the great species to wander among the stars. And they possessed the ability to handle the Infinity Stones. The stones were the remains of a cosmos that had existed before ours: six singularities that survived the Big Bang, forged by unimaginable beings in the form of pure ingots.  
Over time, the young universe matured and the ingots passed into the hands of beings with immense faculties, such as the Celestials. They were modified and transformed, until they became six great gems, each capable of giving the owner almost unlimited power in the area that concerned it. And as the aeons passed, the stones were lost, one after the other, entering the realm of legend, then of myth ... and finally, into oblivion. Today, very few know what an Infinity Stone is, and even those who know it don't necessarily believe in their existence. But they know, Thanos ...they know!"

During that whole parable, Thanos had leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingertips joined in front of his frowning face. His forehead was wrinkled with concentration.

It was, of course, a ridiculous story. Absurd.  
He dismissed the very idea of those objects. They found no place in the rational universe as he knew it. They were ... a fairy tale. A tale of goodnight for gullible children, the only ones who could take for real the existence of such artefacts in the cosmos.

And yet, this thousand-year-old creature with a sharp mind and great power ... believed it.

"Six gems", he scanned slowly. "And each of them controls a different aspect of the universe."

"Exactly", Ghidorah confirmed. "The Space Stone, for example, is blue. I think it was the one once owned by Odin, although I heard an interesting story about how he then sent it to some primitive planet whose name I now forgot. A kind of cosmic ghetto, I would say. Nothing worth dwelling on, except for the fact that an Infinity Stone could really be hidden there. And then there is the Soul Stone, whose position I don't know. The Reality Stone, on the other hand, was stolen by the Dark Elf Malekith during one of Svartalfheim's many wars against Asgard. They called it Aether, and was snatched from them by Bor, Odin's father, who hid it away from all living beings because it was too powerful to be able to entrust it to anyone. And then there is the Time Stone, which was lost millennia ago, in the hands of a sorcerer who was called the Ancient One. And then there is the Mind Stone, which ..."

"Do you really expect me to believe all this nonsense?" Thanos interrupted it. "Stones prior to the universe itself? Who control the fundamental forces of reality?"

"Feel free to believe what you want", Ghidorah snorted. "The universe doesn't care anyway."

The young titan squeezed his mighty jaw. "If these gems exist, why aren't they used more often?"

Ghidorah broke out in a brief access of authentic joy.

"They are hidden, Thanos ..." it replied as if it was teaching something obvious to a child. "Because they are too powerful. And because the Celestials and the other, the one whom the Celestials fear, watch them from afar."

"Have you ever looked for them?" the titan asked, visibly intrigued.

Ghidorah snorted a second time. "I'm too busy looking for planets to consume, I've never had the time to pursue such a goal."

Having said that, it smiled towards the warlord and pointed at him.  
"But you, Thanos, with your goal and your perseverance ... you could succeed where many have failed", it ended with a de facto tone.

Thanos remained still and motionless, his face adorned with a suspicious expression.

"Let's say that I succeed ... what would you earn? Forgive the insolence, but you don't really seem the type who would care about the salvation of the universe", he observed.

Ghidorah just smiled.

"On the contrary, young titan! Because more worlds survive ... the more I can eat", it grinned maliciously, causing a shiver along the spine of the alien.

And this was a motivation that Thanos would have easily attributed to that malevolent creature.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

_**Present**_

Centuries later, Wanda Maximoff saw all this ... and felt anger. An anger so intense as to match that same anger that five years earlier had been unleashed on Thanos, the one who had murdered her first and only love.

Her eyes brightened red. The world around her and Strange began to collapse, while the tendrils that bound her began to break.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Yep...Ghidorah is basically Thor's uncle and brother of Odin! And it's the one who told Thanos about the Infinity Stones. I hope you liked this twist**.

**In the next chapter...there will be the final fight. Who's going to die?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's the final chapter!**

**It will be followed by an epilogue ;)**

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**Chapter 15:**

Sharon Carter got to her feet, noting that her blue uniform had torn in half, dangling on her right side. Then, she noticed the drops of blood that had begun to dirty her hands.

The woman had joined the rest of the air force to assist the Wakandian fleet during the air battle against Ghidorah. Shortly thereafter, the Quinjet had been hit by the alien's electric beams, forcing it to an emergency landing in a devastated neighbourhood of the city.

She was certainly not unscathed from the experience, but at least she could console herself with the fact that she had survived where so many drivers had lost their lives.  
She touched her nostrils, caught by a lightning doubt, and there she confirmed that ... yes, she was bleeding from her nose.

"It could be worse", she thought, while the blood liquid slid down her chin and throat.

It made her laugh, involved in a sudden surge of hilarity. Immediately, however, a twitch of cough forced her to bend her neck down and erupt a decisive sequence of cavernous verses that didn't bode well.

With each cough, explosions of thick, hot liquid went up the walls of her oesophagus, forcing her to savour the ferrous taste of blood, which she spat out into clumps of reddish matter and saliva foam.

"Shit ..."

She found the strength to hoist her head and look forward: hundreds of burned bodies adorned the streets of the city.

Some were getting up, shaken and tried. Others remained stoically on the ground.

Were they unconscious? In a coma? Dead? Sharon had no way of understanding it.

Suddenly her body was hit by other spasms, and her legs began to tremble like never before.

Now that the excitement of the moment was gradually fading like a patch of mud diluted in the water, she could listen with absolute clarity of the senses to the physical pain that lapped her body.

It was then that the shock wave hit her with the same power of a train.

A deafening scream, which many of the Avengers had learned to associate with the bark of madness, spread over all that remained of the devastation of New York.

It was followed by those of the surviving citizens, more acute and strident. Screams of fear, which dispersed everywhere, between those who were looking for shelter and those outside who had witnessed the epic battle between Ghidorah and the earth's paladins.

The three heads of the dragon rose in unison, drawn by that demonic cry.

"Impossible", the middle one hissed.

Only a few people in the city had mistaken the explosion of telekinetic energy for a thunder. A thunder was like heavy artillery in the sky. The roar, on the contrary, echoed like a giant shotgun.

The broken half of the Empire State Building rose from the ground, supported by a red glow. It got up for about a hundred meters, like a ramp with a gentle slope, remaining suspended in the air.

The north end of the George Washington bridge was uprooted from its base and the whole structure folded sideways into the Hudson River, whose flood was now at its peak. The south side plunged above a neighbourhood, while the opposite side joined the Empire.

Civilians, Avengers, Ghidorah itself ... they all turned to look at the scarlet column that rose like a volcanic eruption in the sky.

The roar was frightening and, for a moment, all the windows of the city came alive with a supernatural light in which magenta and blue mingled. Then, just a few seconds later, the shock wave was released, passing through the windows, through the doors, through the vents, like a thousand muscular and merciless arms.

The roof of a factory lifted all together like a strange spaceship covered with tiles, supported by a flame pillow, after which it crumbled into a hundred thousand fragments. Hundreds of buildings suffered the same fate, while the figure of Wanda Maximoff stood out in the middle of the catastrophe.

The woman had a primordial hatred within herself**.** Hate for Ghidorah and the rubble, whose blanket of soot rose from what was once the most prosperous city in the United States. Hate for the monster and the moans of the desperate, whose bodies collapsed on the ground stained the floors of the streets with blood. Hate for the monster and, simply, for its existence, which had inevitably led to the death of the beloved.

The Empire State Building and half of the suspension bridge were thrown at full force against Ghidorah, supported by an anger that only the Hulk could have matched.

The dragon, too surprised to react in time, was thrown backwards by the force of the impact, away from the startled looks of the Avengers.

The creature landed on its back, roaring in anger and pain, as Wanda glided in front of it and landed on top of a fallen building.

Shaking off the rubble that unsuccessfully tried to keep it on the ground, the three-headed monster rose to its full height.

The middle head stared intently at Wanda, losing itself in the boundless abyss that was her hatred, as if it was thinking about something, building a new Machiavellian plan.

"Interesting ... nobody has ever managed to voluntarily escape my mind control. I underestimated you, witch", it said with a vaguely impressed tone.

"And this will be your last mistake", the woman retorted, lighting her hands with a familiar scarlet glow.

The creature gave her a shrewd look. "On this I can only agree", it said spreading both wings, intimidatingly. "I'm more powerful than ever, and the last time we met you barely managed to react!"

"That's not what I remember", Wanda hissed, with a provocative grin.

Ghidorah's eyes were pierced with anger.  
"Allow me to refresh your memory", it growled through its teeth.

The beast launched itself into the air, charging the witch like a bulldozer. The former Avenger did the same, using a telekinetic push to get off the ground.

The two opponents met in mid-air, generating a shock wave that released golden and scarlet flashes in every direction, illuminating the centre of New York.

Strange appeared a few steps from the Avengers, flanked by Wong.

"She won't be able to keep it busy for long. We must get rid of Ghidorah before the Earth collapses definitively on itself", the sorcerer said, his gaze fixed on the titanic battle that was taking place above them.

Rocket released a loud snort.  
"And how do you think we should do that? We pulled everything we had on that thing!" he shouted angrily, pointing furiously towards Carol and Thor.

Strange glanced over the group of superheroes, dwelling on their tired, battered looks ... on the lifeless bodies of Rhodey, Bucky and Drax, as well as those of many of his acolytes.

He was tempted by the impulse to turn and look around him for the consequences of the fight, but he didn't have the courage. Watching his beloved city fall apart one structure at a time had already been an unbearable torment.

How could he now stare with the same eyes at the hell that unfolded between those streets, between the high flames that lapped the skies and the rays of the moon that traced the skeletons of what remained of New York? Not to mention the corpses. All those lifeless bodies…

He stared at the ground in front of him for an indefinite lapse of time, falling back into that kind of trance that had kept him company even in a previous time, when he had lost the use of his hands.

He felt a tightening in his heart but proceeded to suffocate it. This was no time for grief, not when Wanda had given them the opportunity to turn the tide.

"I think I have an idea", he said with renewed determination. "We don't have the firepower necessary to defeat that thing ... but we can still take it to a place where it won't be able to hurt anyone, at least for a while."

Visibly confused expressions began to appear on the faces of the various superheroes.

All of them began to consider the man's words, trying to understand their hidden meaning. In the end, it was Wong who sensed the wizard's plan.

"Do you want to teleport that thing into space?" he asked incredulously, arousing surprised looks from others.

Strange nodded in confirmation. "On Titan, to be precise. It can be done?"

"Well ... In theory yes ..." Wong replied, "but we'll need all the sorcerers available to create a portal large enough to allow the transfer. Besides, someone will have to drop that monster inside it", he added with a reluctant voice.

The various fighters started looking around. Did they have the strength to perform such an act? Even after all that had happened?

Thor let out a tired sigh. "Even if we could do such a thing, in the long run it would be completely useless. Sooner or later, Ghidorah would simply return to this planet ... and when it does, it will be ready to fight us."

"And we'll be ready for it", Carol argued, receiving an unconvinced look from Sam.

"Really? Because I strongly doubt that we'll have what we need to kill it before that time arrives", the Avenger muttered, with a de facto tone.

The woman swore softly, well aware that the hero's words were true. As much as she hated to admit it, they didn't have the strength to fight against such a being.

And even if they managed to stop it for a while ... would it have been fair to speak of victory, when the city was reduced to ashes and the victims only waited for their moment to be celebrated and buried?

In addition, what made her feel worse was the awareness of knowing that the nightmare was not over yet.

Ghidorah was only one of the many threats scattered around the cosmos. This meant that more would come soon. Perhaps, who knows, much earlier than they could ever have imagined.

For too long she and the rest of the Avengers had flown over that reality, convinced that after Thanos they would be able to face everything. But they had been wrong, and for this reason many had suffered.

_"It was our fault. We've been careless ... It shouldn't have ended like this!"_

"What if we teleport it somewhere else?" Scott intruded, interrupting her thoughts.

The reaction was instantaneous. The heroes gathered began to stare at the scientist with strange expressions.

"Like where?" Jessica asked, peering skeptically.

Lang just shrugged.  
"Inside a star", he replied, further surprising the group. "Think about it! Not even a creature with that kind of regenerating factor could survive such a thing."

Everyone turned in the direction of Strange, waiting or not for a confirmation that such a plan could work.

The sorcerer raised his hand to his chin, in deep contemplation.

"The idea is good, but unfortunately unachievable", he said after a few moments of silence. "I need to have a clear vision of the place where I am sending it… and unfortunately I've never seen a star close enough in all my life."

"I did!" Mantis suddenly exclaimed.

Strange looked at her oddly, followed by the rest of the Avengers.  
"And how does this help me?" he asked puzzled.

The alien smiled shyly, waving the fingers of her right hand. These began to light up with a faint glow, a phenomenon that also extended to the tip of her antennae.

"My species can establish a telepathic connection with individuals of other races. I could send the images of a star directly into your brain", she offered with determination, eager to avenge the death of Drax.

After hearing her explanation, Strange glanced at Wong. The man shrugged, as if he were supporting the idea. After all ... what did they have to lose?

"So ... Problem solved?" Quill asked, still supported by Gamorah.

Next to Thor, Jane shook her head in denial.  
"There is still the problem of gravity", the astrophysicist said. "You cannot open a portal of similar dimensions too close to a star, you would risk destroying the planet due to the immense gravitational force exerted by it."

"You are right. We would need a way to push Ghidorah into the orbit of the star", Bruce confirmed, provoking disconsolate expressions by the group.

An inexorable silence seemed to fall over the entire area, despite the noise generated by the clash between Wanda and Ghidorah. It was as if a ghostly hand, gloomy and formless, had fallen over the whole city, testifying to the fact that there was no longer any possibility of salvation.

This, at least, until Thor called the group's attention.

"You don't have to worry about this", he said with a reassuring smile.

Strange raised an eyebrow.  
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

If possible, the grin on the god's face seemed to widen.

"Because I have an idea", he replied. "One that will allow us to accomplish such a task without risking the security of Midgard."

Stephen narrowed his eyes, trying to find the slightest sign of lie and hesitation in the Asgardian's statement. He found none, but he wouldn't have blindly trusted the Asgardian's words. After all, he wasn't known for being the sharpest mind among the Avengers.

Noticing the wizard's hesitation, Thor laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.  
"Trust me, you won't be disappointed. You just have to keep the portal open long enough to allow me to implement the plan", he said seriously.

Strange was silent for about half a minute, contemplating the eyes of the Asgardian.  
" ... I'll do as you ask", he said finally, with a quick nod.

He held out his hand to Mantis and she seized it without hesitation. Then, he opened a portal and entered it, quickly followed by Wong and the surviving acolytes. The rest of the Avengers remained behind.

Nebula joined Thor, giving him a sideways glance.

"So, do you intend to reveal this great plan of yours, O god of thunder?" she asked with both arms crossed in front of her chest.

The Asgardian simply smiled at her. "Simple. I will launch against Ghidorah, push it into the portal and drag that monster directly into the star."

"Yes, good luck", Gamora snorted. "The force of gravity would drag you both inside. It would be suicide."

"I am aware of it", the Asgardian replied, surprising the Zen Whoberi.

A few paces from him, Matt had been monitoring Thor's heartbeat since the beginning of his conversation with Strange.

"Interesting, it doesn't seem to worry you", he observed impassively, not perceiving in the man any sign of fear or discomfort. "I deduce that you've devised a way to avoid it."

"Nope."

The answer made everyone present stumble.

Nebula raised an eyebrow, carefully peering at the absolutely serene face of the Asgardian. "But then ..."

She stopped suddenly. Then, a shocking realization began to make its way into her brain. The same conclusion that the rest of the Avengers began to reach.  
"No ..." she whispered with a low voice, while Thor turned to her with a sad smile.

"Nebula, you know it's the only way."

The cyborg tightened both her eyelids, making a step forward threateningly.  
"No!" she repeated with greater force, receiving a sigh from the god of thunder.

"Nebula ..."

"I refuse to accept it!" the woman growled, grabbing the Asgardian's shoulders and forcing him to stare at her. "I will not allow you to sacrifice your life. I've already lost my parents, my people, my planet, my sister ... I won't lose you too!"

Her face began to be streaked with tracks of anguished tears.

Thor approached her and crouched down in front of her, doing what in other circumstances he would never have dared to do: he held her in his arms, letting his emotions flow out of his body.

Initially surprised by the gesture, Nebula hugged him and buried her face in his chest, unable to escape that contact.

"Please! You don't owe anything to this world…not anymore! You already gave it everything", she continued between sobs, while Thor gently stroked her back, in an attempt to comfort her.

"Not everything… not yet", he said after a few moments of silence.

The cyborg lifted her head and snapped, staring at him with her big, wet black eyes.

Despite the situation, Thor found himself rejoiced by the affection he saw in them. An affection that at that moment was addressed to him…and only to him, the same one that he had peered for the last time about five years ago, in the gaze of his mother.

"I've seen many things, Nebula. Things mortals could only imagine", he began with a heavy tone. "I have seen countless planets, some beautiful and some ugly. I saw the end of Asgard and creations burn. And I've fought so many wars ... taken so many lives. I did worse things than you think, and when I close my eyes…I hear more screams than anyone can ever count."

He smiled sadly, in an almost ironic way.  
"And do you know what I've done with this pain? Do I really have to explain it to you?" he said, raising his right hand and closing it in a vigorous punch. "I held it tightly, until it burned my hands ... and I said to myself only one thing: 'No one else will ever have to feel like this ever again. No one else will have to try this pain anymore. Not if I can avoid it'."

Having said that, he began to slowly caress her cheek, wiping away the tears that still fell copiously from the cyborg's eyes.

"Losing my life for those who I love ... would be the greatest of honours", he finished, pouring all the conviction he was capable of into those last words.

Nebula looked at him stunned. In that moment, she understood with absolute certainty that, after years of struggle and countless sufferings, she had finally found someone who really understood her. A companion ready to defend her against the difficulties of the future.

Then slowly, almost hesitantly, the cyborg pushed herself up with her tiptoes ... and kissed him.

The moon briefly appeared over the storm clouds, one ray at a time, only to sink into the mysteries of the distant and stormy blanket. Gloomy night fell over New York as the woman projected her body forward and clung further to that of the god.

Thor responded to the kiss, gently cupping Nebula's face, deepening the contact. Then he parted, continuing to stare at her gently.

"You will sleep safe tonight. All of you", he said, turning to the rest of the heroes. They all had grim expressions on their faces, now fully aware of what the Asgardian would try to do to save them all.

"There could be another way", Spider-Man muttered, without too much conviction.

The god of thunder simply shook his head.  
"There isn't. Not in this case", he said with a de facto tone.

The wall-climber lowered his gaze to the ground. "This…this is not fair."

"Life is rarely", Thor admitted, engaging in a laugh without joy.

Carol, who had witnessed the confrontation between him and Nebula with a heavy heart, broke away from Peter briefly and made a military salute.

She wished she could help, assist the Aesir in some way, but Ghidorah's latest attack had drained her of every ounce of energy. The only reason the god of thunder was still capable of fighting, was because of his Asgardian nature.

"It was an honour… Thor, son of Odin", she said with a sad smile, quickly imitated by Frank, Daisy and Sam. All of them had served in the military ... and would have honoured the warrior's sacrifice in the only way they thought fit: officially recognizing him as a companion in arms.

Rocket leapt forward, hugging the Asgardian's leg.

"I'll miss you, golden curls", he said with his face wet with tears, while Groot put a hand on his shoulder.

Thor stroked the head of the genetic experiment, looking towards the rest of the Avengers.

Quill, Gamora, Luke, T'Challa, Scott, Hope, Peter, Matt and Bruce ... all of them gave him respectful nods, trying to hide the swirl of sadness and resignation that permeated their souls.

The thing, however, didn't go unnoticed by the Asgardian, who had witnessed a similar behaviour in many of the warriors with whom he had fought during his long life.  
"Don't be sad, my friends!" he exclaimed suddenly, calling Mjolnir back to him and hoisting him towards the sky. "The great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of smaller men to light the flames ... Whatever the price."

In that precise moment, a blur came alongside Nebula, wrapping the god of thunder in a warm hug.

Thor looked down, finding himself staring at Jane Foster's brown pupils.

"I still remember when I met you for the first time. You were a real asshole", the woman said, through tears.

She sniffled, tightening her grip on the Asgardian's body. "Now you're even worse. You're an asshole with a good heart!"

Thor smiled warmly, affectionately running his fingers through the long hair of the one who had been his first love.

"We all change, Jane. If you think about it, we are all different people throughout our lives. And that's okay ... it's good, you have to keep moving. However, we must not forget all the people we have been before. I will never forget anything of what I have experienced ... not even one day, I swear it", he said with conviction, throwing one last look to the group. "I will always remember ... when I was an Avenger."

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

The clash between Wanda and Ghidorah was continuing with no holds barred.

A riot of lightning, thunder and glitzes of scarlet energy that hovered in the abandoned streets of New York like shooting stars.

The buildings collapsed, the windows poured out on the ground in a clinking cacophony, while the spectators still alive watched helplessly a battle that seemed to come directly from the Book of Revelation.

Still, the fighting was getting more and more unbalanced. In fact, Wanda had begun to lose strength. She wouldn't be able to resist Ghidorah's power for much longer ... and this the dragon knew well.

The three heads opened their jaws, preparing to attack the witch at the same time. The woman clenched her teeth and began to summon a telekinetic sphere to curb the impending onslaught.

Ghidorah shouted its offensive.

The monster immediately sensed the power of Wanda trying to lick the electric beams, and increased the power of the attack, while the telekinetic ball wrapped them in a whirlwind of pure energy.

With great effort, the projection of the Scarlet Witch managed to contain the shock wave caused by the beams, thus avoiding that her body was thrown away before the end of that tug of war between titans. An end that came with a great detonation of light that enveloped New York in a blanket of debris, plunging it into a silence worthy of a ghost town.

Wanda fell to her knees, panting from the effort, as the red glow surrounding her body began to dissolve.

At the same time, the huge figure of Ghidorah emerged from the cloud of dust, practically unharmed.

Scarlet Witch tried to get up, but found herself unable to do so. She stumbled forward, looking down at the ground.

Damn it, she thought with a snarl. She had spent too much energy during her previous battles and now she no longer had the strength to fight.

The hydra's middle head noticed it and smiled dangerously.

"So weak, so ... vulnerable ... look at me**. **Look at death itself!" the monster hissed through its fangs.

However, the former Avenger didn't raise her head. Instead, to the dragon's surprise ... she started laughing. A low and guttural sound, which gradually grew, until it became a full-fledged laugh.

Ghidorah stared at her oddly.  
"Why are you laughing? Have you finally lost your mind?" it asked with a mocking tone.

Wanda finally looked up, meeting the alien's scarlet eyes with a fierce smile.

"No ... I laugh because of you!" she shouted, surprising the monster. "Our scientists say that, millions of years ago, huge beasts roamed this world, as big as mountains. But of them there are only bones left in resin. Time wears down even the most powerful of creatures. Look what it did to you!"

Ghidorah opened its eyelids dangerously, while a blind and heavy anger began to make its way into its malevolent mind. Was this ... wretched creature mocking it?! Even after all it had done to her and her miserable allies ... did she dare make fun of it? Unacceptable!

If possible, almost as if she had read the dragon's thoughts, the grin on Wanda's face seemed to widen.

"One day you will perish. You will lie on the earth, together with the atrocities you've committed. What about your actions? Forgotten. Your horrors? Deleted. Your bones will turn to sand. And right on that sand the universe will keep going on, until you are nothing but dust in its memories", she said with an amused glint in his eyes. "Do you think I'm weak? No, you are the weak! Because you will never know love ... or friendship ... and I feel sorry for you!"

Apparently, that was the drop that made the vase overflow.

Ghidorah's gills shot up, illuminated like lanterns, ready to pour all the anger held up to that moment on that woman. She had dared to feel pity for it ... the destroyer of worlds! She would have paid such an affront with her life.

But at that moment, before the beast could complete the attack, the arrival of a familiar figure behind it forced it to turn around.

Thor rose imposingly in front of the hydra, his body burned and bleeding, Mjolnir and Stormbreaker in his hands.

Ghidorah's middle head smiled mockingly.  
"Ah, son of Odin! Welcome back, we missed you", it said with a mischievous background, while the one on the left snarled in the Asgardian's direction. Evidently, it had not yet forgotten the beheading that took place less than an hour earlier.

"It will end today", the god of thunder said, tightening both his eyelids and putting himself in an attack position.

Ghidorah barked a chilling laugh.  
"I know it will end today, I've already seen the outcome. For this I will allow your companions to enjoy the show. Because we are all aware that I will beat you!" it hissed with sadistic pleasure.

Then, the three heads began to pour bundles of electric beams across the area, almost randomly.

Thor opened his pupils wide and tried to avoid them as much as possible. Because of this, he didn't notice Ghidorah's long tail hitting him from the side.

He rolled to the ground, losing his grip on Stormbreaker, while the dragon laughed mockingly.

The god thunder got to his feet and spat blood, visibly tired by the blow.

He launched himself against Ghidorah, tightened his grip on Mjolnir's handle and hit the dragon's middle head, and again, and again. And he continued, even if he lacked air, even if every movement was a jolt that ran through his muscles. Even if every blow to that beast had an echo of suffering.

Ghidorah stepped aside, and the last attack of the Aesir failed.

The middle head coughed, spitting two of its sharp teeth, while the left one opened its jaws wide.

Soon, Thor found himself once again trapped in the relentless grasp of the beast.

The dragon slammed the Asgardian onto the ground, then grabbed him again between its teeth and threw him against the carcass of a building. Thor's figure pierced it from side to side, tumbling on the street and lifting the pipes that ran under the neighbourhood.

He groaned in pain and put his fists on the ground, feeling every muscle in his body go up in flames. Yet, despite all that suffering, despite his mind telling him to stop, the man didn't give up.

He appealed to the energies that still flowed through his veins like condensed magma ... and he got up from the ground, while the blood was pouring copiously from the open wounds.

Ghidorah looked at the whole scene incredulously.

"Why, Thor? Why are you doing this? Why do you get up? Why do you keep fighting?" it asked with a snarl, its red eyes illuminated by a furious glint. "Do you really think you're fighting for something other than your blood thirst? Can you tell me what it is, assuming you are aware of it?"

The god of thunder, however, didn't seem to have heard its words and simply put himself in an attacking position.

"Are you fighting for pride?! Vengeance?! Don't tell me it's love, son of Odin! It's just an illusion, a simple whim created to justify an existence devoid of the slightest meaning or purpose!" the dragon continued, to then indicate the Avengers gathered a few hundred meters from the clash. "Are you fighting for them?! For these filthy humans? They're just a species that craves death! They need it. It's the only way they have to renew themselves, the true way they have to progress. They pretend there's poetry in that, but instead it's just pathetic! At least I kill out of necessity!"

But the Asgardian continued to remain silent, supporting the alien's gaze and tightening his grip on the hammer.

Needless to say, the action only increased Ghidorah's anger.  
"You should have understood by now, Thor, you won't win, fighting for this world is useless!" the beast exclaimed, while thunder and lightning illuminated the skies of New York.

At those words, Thor curled both his lips into a little smile.

"This is your problem, Ghidorah, you've always chosen to see the ugliness of this universe. The chaos", he said, surprising the dragon. "I chose to see its beauty. I chose to believe that our days have an order, a purpose. I like to remember what my mother once said to me: sooner or later, we are all new to this world. And the new ones look for our own things. A place to be free, where to realize your dreams ... a place with infinite possibilities."

The expression on his face returned serious and resolute, as he pointed Mjolnir towards the opponent.  
"And I will protect mine ... even in death", he ended with determination.

Ghidorah snapped its forked tongue out of anger.

Meanwhile, a golden glow, a few blocks away, caught its attention.

The dragon saw Strange, accompanied by the figure of Mantis and those of his disciples. While the alien had her eyes closed and her hands resting on the sorcerer's temples, his acolytes had begun to convulsively wave their arms in mid-air.

A huge portal**, **the largest ever seen in Earth's memory, began to form in that same point. Beyond its circumference, Ghidorah saw the immensity of the space. And much further away ... a luminous sphere that stood out in the void, surrounded by thousands of small flashes.

The dragon stamped its feet a couple of times, lifting pieces of asphalt and debris. It was blinded by anger and tired of those miserable humans who tried to fight it. At that point, it would resort to any expedient in order to destroy them.

The three heads opened their mouths in unison ... and turned abruptly.

Thor, who had tried to attack the alien from behind during that brief moment of apparent inattention, found himself hit by the full power of the beams. He was shot on the ground like a bullet, his body smouldering and covered in burns.

Ghidorah smiled maliciously at the exhausted figure of the Asgardian.

"Do you feel the end, son of Odin? But before killing you, I will give you one last pearl of wisdom", he said with a mocking tone. "You really want to know what the real purpose of life is? I'll reveal it to you! The purpose of life ... is to end!"

The beast opened its mouth wide, preparing to incinerate that annoying enemy once and for all. It had no chance.

A bullet of scarlet light hit the dragon straight on its right muzzle, causing it to stumble backwards.

It turned, casting a furious glance at the person who had dared to stop the execution.

Wanda was there, a hundred meters from the beast, trying to remain standing**.** Her hands were pointed forward, and her eyes lit red.

"They are really persistent", Ghidorah commented, visibly irritated.

It lifted its tail, and the sharp tips at the double ends straightened. Then the creature snapped the long bump like a whip.

Dozens of quills shot towards Wanda with the sole purpose of stabbing her and ending her life.

The woman let out a sigh and closed her eyelids, aware that she would never be able to dodge them, nor did she have the strength to block them telekinetically. She waited for the pain ... but this never came.

A strange sound was heard, like egg shells being crushed. Then, the Scarlet Witch sensed a distinct copper smell. She opened his eyes ... and screamed.

Bruce Banner stood in front of her, partially transformed into a Hulk, with green skin wet with blood. At the centre of his chest and on his stomach stood two huge quills the size of a tree branch, stuck in the flesh. He had stood before her to save her.

The man coughed a trickle of blood and fell to the ground as Scarlet Witch lunged for him.

"Bruce! Oh my God", the woman whined, crouching beside the Avenger. "Oh God, Bruce, why ... why did you do that?!"

"What kind of doctor would I be ... if I didn't take care of my patients?" the man whispered, his pupils dilated and his lips curled in an almost imperceptible smile.

The woman began to cry, trying to use her powers to stop the bleeding ... but every attempt proved futile. She had lost too much energy.

Ghidorah merely snorted, disgusted by that manifestation of emotional weakness.

Then the three heads turned in Thor's direction.

The middle one raised an eyebrow, while the Asgardian tried to get back on his feet.

"Wait ... I've already seen all this", the creature muttered. "This is the end. It has come. Yes ... you were lying on the ground ... everything coincides! And I ... And I ... I was here, where I am now, and at this point I should say something. I should say, 'Now you will die', and then ... what?!"

Time seemed to stop. Surprised by their leader's sudden outburst, the other two heads stared at it in alarm.

"What? What did I see? No, no ... this is not right", the middle one said, shaking its muzzle as if it was trying to erase treacherous thoughts.

It looked up and looked at Thor, who had managed to get up and now kept Mjolnir raised in mid-air, ready to resume his attack.

For the first time since it had come to that planet, Ghidorah's scarlet eyes were pervaded by a shadow of panic.

In the meantime, the god of thunder took a run and rushed towards it.

The dragon glanced briefly behind itself, noticing the huge portal still open.

"It can't be ... that's not the way it should be ... Stay away from me!" the monster shouted angrily, charging another bundle of beams towards Thor. The other two heads followed their leader. They would put an end to the life of the Asgardian!

But in that moment...  
**  
FOOSH!  
**  
It all happened in a flash.

Of the arrow the dragon recognized only a blurred shadow, which made a curve along the left side of the middle head.

Ghidorah acted on impulse, closing the scaly eyelids that protected its eye, but it was too slow to react ... and it paid the consequences of that oversight in the most serious way.

Who from below stared with dismay at the whole scene saw the middle head bend backwards, struck by the foreign body exactly in the pupil.

From that moment, no one would have forgotten the howl of suffering that the creature emitted in that moment when, in the end, the arrow exploded in its eye, blinding it.

The left head jerked upright, alarmed by the sudden attack. It turned its muzzle to where the bullet had come from, just in time to see a mysterious figure stand on the rubble of a building.

Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, met the creature's gaze fearlessly. It had taken nearly three hours to reach the city, laboriously making his way through the streets clogged with debris and stray lightning generated by the storm. But now he was there, ready to support his old companions in times of need. Ready once again to protect his family and the planet they lived on, as he had done for many years.

He raised his bow at arm level ... and fired another arrow.

The left head was hit between the teeth, some of which broke due to the subsequent explosion. The same thing happened the one on the right, which had also hoisted itself to check the status of its brother**.  
****  
**As the two skulls screamed in anger and pain, the middle head eye had begun to regenerate. At the same time, it noticed that Thor had continued his charge undisturbed, now covered in lightning.

Although its sight was no longer as efficient as it was at the beginning, the dragon immediately recognized the meaning of those discharges that rose in the glow of the moon: its prey was fortifying again, ready to counter it.

No! It wasn't fair! It shouldn't have allowed him to do it again!

The beast tried to reload the bundle of gravitons ... but it was too late now.

Thor launched at a speed of a thousand miles per hour beyond the pile of rubble and bones, projected like a missile, now in a very precise trajectory, but not towards a light, but towards the darkness of the sidereal space.

He hit Ghidorah's body in the chest, dragging it with him.

He passed the portal and exploded in a space of absolute darkness, where darkness was everything, darkness was the cosmos and the universe, and where the depth of darkness was warm, bright, a slab of flames leading to the star that soon would end his life. It was on the dance floor of eternity ... and eternity was black and white at the same time.

He barely raised his head.

Ghidorah's faces were a barely recognizable lump in the cacophony of the moment, but Thor still managed to catch a glimpse of its eyes. They were filled with hatred, contempt and the security shown throughout the battle.

"And this bastard killed three of my friends without batting an eyelid", he thought angrily. So he would make those looks disappear forever!

He called Stormbreaker with one hand. The axe, which had followed him through the portal, began to spin towards him, while with his free limb the he lifted Mjolnir.  
He struck Ghidorah's middle head, sending it to collide with the one on the right.

Then he grabbed its left head while it tried to bite him, and then he pressed his thumbs into its muzzle with all the strength he had left. And when the beast finally let out a cry of pain, Thor allowed the lightning to explode.

The discharges attacked the hydra's head, with a crackle that was lost in the void of space.

At the same time, the middle head threw itself towards the Asgardian, ready to sink its fangs into its body. It had no chance.

Stormbreaker severed it at neck height, cutting through the flesh as if it was butter.

The head didn't even have time to express its surprise as it detached itself and began to spin in the void of the cosmos.

The other two shrieked in surprise. For the first time in billions of years ... they were without their leader. Sure, it would only take a few minutes to regenerate, but that was all the time Thor needed.

Bewildered, alone and in pain, the pair of skulls began to fidget as if mad. And then came the fire.

The thunder and the beast sank into the surface layer of the star, immediately finding themselves wrapped in a red and inconsistent mass of neutrinos.

Not even a thread of darkness could pass through that mixture of fire, magma and pure light.

Right away, Thor realized he couldn't breathe, and he didn't hear any more sound than the pops of his own skin that was starting to burn, now audible due to an atmosphere that exceeded 5700 K.

For a moment he felt fear, but didn't panic. At that point it no longer mattered whether he would come out alive or not. He had accepted his fate long ago.  
He drew Stormbreaker once more and began to sink it into Ghidorah's chest.

Time a few thousandths of a second and it seemed to him that he no longer remembered anything of his previous life, he was thinking only about that moment, and having to continue raging on his opponent as long as he would have the strength to continue.

His mother's face appeared before his eyes for a short period of time, only to end up devoured by the light. What was her name? Why didn't he suddenly remember it? It didn't matter. He had to continue.

Something snapped him in the shoulder, and vaguely recognized the scarlet eyes of the right head.

He holds a scream of pain.

He felt far ... insignificant. He felt everything flow away from himself, together with the blood of his life ... all his anger, all his pain, all fear, all confusion and anguish. He assumed he was about to die, but he felt ... ah, for Odin, he felt so lucid, so clean, like a properly washed window. That now let in all the glorious light of an unexpected sunrise.

The light ... for Odin, that perfect light that went from everywhere was sweeping the boundless horizon, in every second of time.

_"Father ... mother ... brother ... soon I will hug you again"_, he thought with a tired smile.

Meanwhile, Ghidorah's middle head had finished regenerating.

It looked around briefly, becoming aware of the surrounding environment. A world made of flames and heat ... a world in which not even a being like it could have survived.  
"I can't die like this ..." it whispered to itself. "I CANNOT DIEEEEAAAAAAAAARGH!"

There was a high-pitched scream of pain and fear and Ghidorah's heart exploded inside its body, burning with the muscles and skin.

The scream began to wane, to run out. Thor felt the body of the beast suddenly lock on him, like a gloved fist. Then everything relaxed.

For a moment, dragon and Asgardian were merged together. Finally came the last blaze ... and with it… the nothing.

* * *

**XXXX**

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**So...yeah, Thor is dead. Ghidorah? Well...it's complicated...**

**I really hope you liked this final battle, I worked A LOT on it. **


End file.
